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Idiom: So to speak
The idiom so to speak is a useful phrase in English that helps you show you are using words in a special or non-exact way.
When you say so to speak, you are letting your listener know that what you just said should not be understood literally, but has a special meaning or is a kind of metaphor.
For example, if someone says, “He’s the heart of the team, so to speak,” they mean he is very important, but not actually the heart.
To state it as clearly as possible: So to speak is used when you want to show that your words are not exactly true, but they explain an idea or make it easier to understand.
It is often used to make your language more colourful or interesting.
Here’s how you can use so to speak in different sentences.
Imagine you are discussing a friend who excels at solving problems.
You might say, “She is our troubleshooter, so to speak.”
If you are describing someone who is always happy, you could say, “He brings sunshine into our lives, so to speak.”
Sometimes, people use so to speak to be polite or careful.
For example, “We need to clean up the mess in the office, so to speak.”
Here, “mess” does not mean dirt, but maybe problems.
You can use so to speak at the end of a sentence: “He’s always the first to help, so to speak.”
Or in the middle: “She, so to speak, keeps the group together.”
Using so to speak makes your English sound more natural and friendly.
Try including this idiom in your conversations, and you will sound more like a native speaker, so to speak!
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 11 – 13).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 75.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.
