sod
noun (sod, sods); verb (sod off, sod it — rude); adjective-like «sodding» (rude)
Everyday
- A piece of grass with the earth and roots under it; turf. tree →
- (rude, UK, Ireland, Australia) An insulting word for an annoying or unpleasant person. tree →
- (rude, UK) «Poor sod»: an unlucky person you feel sorry for. tree →
- (rude, UK) «Sod it» or «sod this»: said when you are fed up and give up. tree →
- (rude, UK) «Sod off»: go away. tree →
- (UK, informal) «Sod's law»: the idea that if something can go wrong, it will. tree →
In the lessons
The grass sense is used in gardening and old stories (turning the first sod). The rude senses are mild swearing in British, Irish and Australian speech, heard in films and from grown-ups when angry; pupils should know them but not use them at school. Phrases: «sod off», «sod it», «poor sod», «Sod's law», «a lazy sod».
Examples
- They laid fresh sod on the football field. tree →
- The mayor turned the first sod for the new school. tree →
- (rude) «Sod off and leave me alone!» tree →
- (rude) «Sod it, I'm going home,» said Dad. tree →
- (rude) The poor sod missed the bus again. tree →
- (UK) Of course it rained on sports day — Sod's law! tree →
- (rude) «You lazy sod, get up!» tree →
- And his horse cast up four sods with his four hoofs, like four swallows in the air about his head, now above, now below. tree →
Note
Rude senses are mild swearing — not for school, homework or polite talk. Mostly UK, Irish and Australian; Americans rarely use them. The grass sense is countable (a sod, sods) and polite. Not related to «soda» or «sodium».
In Jewish tradition
An old past tense of "seethe": it means boiled, so Jacob boiled the lentil stew. The Chronicler uses it for the holy offerings boiled in pots and pans at Josiah's Passover, while the Passover lamb itself was roasted.
Interpretation. Tradition reads this as the stew of mourning lentils Jacob cooked after Abraham died, and the story shows Esau selling his birthright for it. At Josiah's Passover the people kept the law by roasting the lamb and boiling the other offerings.
Examples
- And Jacob sod pottage; and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint. (Torah GEN.25.29, JPS 1917) tree →
- And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance; and the holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the children of the people. (Writings 2CH.35.13, JPS 1917) tree →
Note
Rude senses are mild swearing — not for school, homework or polite talk. Mostly UK, Irish and Australian; Americans rarely use them. The grass sense is countable (a sod, sods) and polite. Not related to «soda» or «sodium».
Early Modern English
Meaning
Boiled, cooked in boiling liquid, in the past. tree →
Then and now
Today sod is a piece of turf (grass with earth and roots) or a rude word. The first sentence uses the old past form of seethe; the other two use today's sense of turf.
Examples
- And Jacob sod pottage; and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint. (Torah GEN.25.29, JPS 1917) tree →
- So soon as she touches with the root the sod that blocks the nest, it will fly violently out of the hole. (The Crimson Fairy Book) tree →
- You remember the baskets I left there with the sod from Ireland in one and the sod from Scotland in the other; bring me the baskets and sods.” (Irish Fairy Tales) tree →
Note
Today: boiled.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «sod» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «sod» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «sod» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «sod» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «sod» in the Early Modern English dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «sod» in the Early Modern English dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/sod/