Flattery; blarney.
Then he did a leadin' article on slavery and non-intervention, and spoke a little soft-sawder about America.--Sam Slick in England. ch. 20.
The Washington Union cracks the whip gently about the ears of the Democracy, and winds up with a counter-application of soft-sawder, in the shape of appeals to patriotism.--N. Y. Com. Adv., Jan. 6, 1847.
TO SOFT SAWDER
To flatter.
I don't like to be left alone with a gall; it's plaguy apt to set me a soft-sawderin' and a courtin'.--Sam. Slick in England, p. 19.
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
Flattery; blarney. A vulgar phrase, though much used. to soft soap To flatter; to blarney. I am t...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.