el_flaco все записи автора With the best wishes going out to all the pretty sex out there...

Well, this issue will be a tad out of alignment, given the special occasion, but tomorrow the things will get back to usual...

Since a lot of the fair sex enjoy watching what's known as "soapies" and some might not quite know where this name came from, here's a story. Enjoy=)

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Many experts say soap was first produced by the Phoenicians about twenty-six-hundred years ago. The Phoenicians used it on wounds and to color their hair. The ancient Greeks, however, are believed to have been the first to use soap for cleaning.
By the ninth century, small businesses in Italy, Spain and France produced different kinds of soap. These small businesses did not become a large industry until the last century.
One English expression is closely linked to the soap-making industry in the United States. It is "soap opera."
"Soap operas" are radio and television plays about the problems and emotions in human relationships. They are called soap operas, because the first programs, years ago, were paid for by soap-making companies.
Like musical operas, soap operas are not about real people. And critics charge that they do not present a balanced picture of real life. They note that almost everyone in a soap opera has a serious emotional problem, or is guilty of a crime. And there are several crises in every half hour program.
Yet, soap opera fans do not care what the critics say. They love the programs and watch them every day.
Such loyalty made soap operas very popular in the United States. In fact, a few programs are so popular that they have been produced with the same actors for many years.
Another expression that uses the word soap is "soap box."
There was a time when soap and other products were shipped in wooden boxes. These boxes were small, but strong. You could stand on one to see over the heads in a crowd.. .or to be seen in a crowd. Soap boxes were a simple, easy way to make yourself taller if you wanted to give a public speech.
Such "soap-box" speeches usually were political, and onesided. The speakers shouted their ideas to anyone who walked by. Many talked for hours, refusing to get off their soap boxes.
Today, you don't need a wooden box to make a soap-box speech. Anyone, anywhere, who talks endlessly about a cause is said to be on a soap box.
Another, quieter way to win support or gain influence is to "soft soap" a person. This means to use praise or other kind words to get the person to do what you want.

(c) VoA