E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Soap.
An English form of savon, the French for soap.
1
How are you off for soap? (for money or any other necessity). The insurgent women of Paris, in February, 1793, went about crying, “Du pain et du savon!” (bread and soap).
2
“A deputation of washwomen petitioned the Convention for soap, and their plaintive cry was heard round the Salle de Manège, ‘Du pain et du savon!’”—Carlyle: French Revolution, pt. iii. bk. iii. 1.
