So to speak means in a way, if I can put it like that. It comes right after a figurative or loose word: The library became my second home, so to speak. It tells the listener: don't take this literally. It isn't a pause filler; for that, English has well or you know.
Want to use so to speak in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
a figurative or approximate description, so to speak
- The shared kitchen is the heart of the building, so to speak.
- For the first month, I was an apprentice, so to speak, although that wasn't my job title.
- This checklist is our safety net, so to speak.
What changed
First versionThe library became my second home, so to say.
RevisionThe library became my second home, so to speak.
Say and speak are so close that so to say looks just as logical, and it does turn up now and then. But the usual fixed form is so to speak. With the verb swapped, the phrase sounds natural.
In other words introduces a rephrasing: In other words, we need more time. So to speak rephrases nothing; it only marks the word you have just used as figurative: this checklist is our safety net, so to speak.
Your turn
Choose the usual fixed expression: The old timetable is our compass, so to ___.
Show the answer
speak — The fixed form is so to speak. The timetable is called a compass figuratively, and that is exactly what the phrase marks. It is never used with tell.
Describe the place where you spend most of your time with a figurative image, and mark the image with so to speak.
The kitchen is the control centre of our flat, so to speak.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.