noun General Slang

sap

· noun · irish

A soft fool — gullible, naive, easily taken in.

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Definitions

1

A simpleton or fool, with the specific flavour of being soft and easily taken advantage of. Common across Ireland and Britain — the sap is the one who picks up the bill, believes the excuse, lends the money he won't see again. Less mean than 'eejit', more pitying.

“I'm such a sap — I actually thought he'd pay me back.”
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2

A coward or weakling. A secondary sense where someone is dismissed as pathetic or lacking in backbone rather than just gullible.

“Don't be a sap, just ring her.”
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sap In A Sentence

I'm such a sap — I actually thought he'd pay me back.
Don't be a sap, just ring her.

Origin & Usage

British/Irish slang, late 1700s; short for 'sapskull' (a person with a head full of sap, i.e. wood pulp — soft and useless).

Variants sappy

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