Quick Quips: This week Shauna and Dan explore the phrase, "put a sock in it". Bonus: 90s Action-comedies, Choose Your Own Adventure media, and if the Chief is inclined to jib, tell him to put a sock in it!
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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Quick Quips
Episode 312: Put A Sock In It
Record Date: March 22, 2026
Air Date: March 25, 2026
Intro
Dan:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.
I’m Dan Pugh
Shauna:
And I’m Shauna Harrison
Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.
Welcome to another Quick Quips episode where we look at phrases that, for whatever reason, don’t fit into our regular format.
This time, we’re telling someone to put a sock in it… but not you!
Meaning
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, put a sock in it means,
Quote
to stop talking : be quiet
End quote
People typically use this phrase to tell someone to stop talking in a less than kind way but not necessarily full-anger mode. It can also be used in a wry sense when talking with friends or sometimes when being told a truth about oneself, that they may not be ready to hear.
How it Started (Could be figurative or literal)
The main theory about the origin of this phrase is that people would often use a sock to muffle the horn on a gramophone - those antique record players. But there’s just no evidence to support the idea.
The precise origin of the phrase put a sock in it has not been established. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that it’s been in use as a colloquial phrase since 1905.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/sock
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/292100.html
1919
However, the oldest evidence of its use in print I was able to verify are all from the year 1919. One in particular comes from the East St. Louis daily journal, out of Illinois, dated August 20, 1919. The piece is a short extra that has some fun with idiomatic and colloquial expressions. Here is an excerpt,
Quote
Hope you are in the pink, old Bean, and not feeling too much of an onion at home! Did you click for a rise? The gadget is to barge in on the Chief right away—at the double in fact. Cold feet are no good for bringing in the dough. If the Chief is inclined to jib, tell him to put a sock in it!
End Quote
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn92053739/1919-08-20/ed-1/?sp=4&q=put+a+sock+in+it&r=0.183,1.023,0.339,0.168,0
We are going to read a little bit more of this confusing story in our behind the scenes which airs every Friday on Patreon. That’s at patreon.com/BunnyTrailspod.
1933
In this next example, we see the phrase being turned around from figurative to literal in the comic strip Moon Mullins by Frank Willard. This comes from the December 24, 1933 edition of the Evening star, out of Washington, D.C.
The dad in the comic overhears his kid praying or maybe sending thoughts to Santa, asking for a horn they’d seen at the store. He goes out and buys the horn and then hides it in his child’s stocking - or sock - to surprise the next morning. And that’s when the child blows the horn and says,
Quote
Look… somebody put that horn in my sock.
End Quote
The dad says to himself,
Quote
If I’d just had sense enough to put the sock in that horn!
End Quote
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1933-12-24/ed-1/?sp=69&q=put+a+sock+in+it&r=-0.091,0.052,1.25,0.621,0
This was a common device used in comic strips at the time. People would have recognized this as a turn of phrase, meaning they were expected to be familiar with the phrase for the joke to land.
How it Shifted (or How it Became Figurative)
The phrase was used some in printed works for the following several decades but saw growth in the 1990s which continued until a large spike around 2018. The phrase is still in high-usage in print and is common in spoken word as well.
And next we’ll look at just how the phrase is used today, but first, a quick thank you to our sponsors
A Quick Thank You
Dan
This episode is brought to you by our amazing Patrons on Patreon. It’s 100% free to join the Bunny Trails community, so give our weekly discussions and poll questions a try!
Shauna
If you love our content and want more,
we have some paid tiers, too
including early access to the week's episode,
a weekly behind the scenes video,
and Original Digital Artwork once a month, made by ME.
Dan
You can also get awesome name recognition like Pat Rowe and JGP do every episode. And our top spot is currently occupied by the amazing Mary Halsig Lopez.
You can join the Bunny Trails community for free at bunny trails pod on Patreon.
That’s patreon.com/bunnytrailspod
How it's used today
This phrase was all over pop culture in the 90s and early 2000s.
1993
Last Action Hero is a 1993 action-comedy directed by John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film plays with the idea of reality and fiction, with Schwarzenegger appearing both as his action-hero character Jack Slater and as himself. At one point, the character Jack Slater says to Arnold,
Quote
Put a sock in it! I don't care who does what to your Hershey highway. And stop shouting, I'm not deaf! You know why you are shouting? Because it's in the script. You're the comic relief. Yes. And you know what else? I am the hero. SO SHUT UP!
End quote
https://www.quotes.net/mquote/1208468
2026
According to youtube, Put a Sock In It: A Bluegrass Song was released in 2026 by Harmony Songs Studio. There aren’t other credits listed such as writer, musicians, singer… but the song exists. The lyrics are filled with idioms and figurative phrases leading to the chorus which states,
Quote
It’s a whole new ballgame
So put a sock in it fast
End Quote
https://youtu.be/_HNJuJAX9bM?si=PrzPli_QFiZ55fj1
If you’re a song expert and locate the artist, I’d love to give them the credit they’re due.
Current
Put A Sock In It is a downloadable game. Here is a description from the website:
Quote
PUT A SOCK IN IT! is the first release from Far-off Daydream Games. It is an outrageously silly choose-your-own-adventure game featuring Animated Sock Action, about 90 Endings and 30 Life Lessons for you to help the characters learn.
What would you do if you were trapped someplace all alone? Put A Sock In It! dares ask the question: How far would you go to entertain yourself?
End Quote
https://faroffdaydream.itch.io/put-a-sock-in-it
I haven’t played this one but the animations look fun. You never know exactly where you’ll end up with a choose-your-own-adventure style game or story.
Shauna:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included, reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod, or comment on our website, bunnytrailspod.com
Poll question
Dan:
It’s poll time!
Recently we asked our Patrons: What’s something from your childhood that still brings you joy today?
A hobby or activity took first, followed closely by a food or snack. Less common were a “TV show or Movie” and “a place or a tradition”.
Shauna:
Cheryl said:
Quote
My grandmothers and aunt taught me knitting and embroidery when I was a kid. I still love doing them 50 years later. It brings back good memories.
End Quote
That’s really beautiful. My grandmother taught me to sew and I’m grateful I was able to pass on some basics to my kids.
Jan shared:
Quote
I’m torn between food and place. One grandma made amazing shrimp curry, and that’s still one of my favorite foods. The other lived in the Pacific Northwest, and we visited the coast, so the beach is right up there.
End Quote
Foods and places have a weird way of forming these sort of landmarks in our memory. I’ve always been fascinated by the stories people have of a place - it can be completely different from one person to the next.
Dan:
JGP said:
Quote
My grandfather taught me how to make his mother's challah when I was young. Honestly, it's far too much work to make every Friday like she supposedly used to do, but every so often I pull out the recipe and spend the day making it. Everyone loves it when I do, although I've been informed by numerous people I have ruined store-bought challah for them as a result! :)
End Quote
Challah, I had to look up, is a special bread used in Jewish cuisine. So thank you JGP for making me one of today’s lucky 10,000!
https://xkcd.com/1053/
I really enjoy being outside with nature via hiking, camping, paddling, etc. These activities were always something I looked forward to as a kid growing up in small town, rural America and being in Boy Scouts. They represented a time away from the bustle of school, chores, and the daily grind. The irony is not lost on me that I do many more chores to prepare for and clean up from many of these activities, but they always feel different. And I experience a sense of peace when I'm intentionally out in nature.
As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!
Outro
Dan:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember,
Together:
Words belong to their users.
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