soft pedal

¹ American  

noun

1. Also called una corda pedal.  a pedal, as on a piano, for reducing tonal volume.

2. Informal. something that restrains or dampens.

   to put a soft pedal on one's enthusiasm.

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soft-pedal ² American  

[sawft-ped-l, soft-] / ˌsɔftˈpɛd l, ˌsɒft- /

verb (used without object)

soft-pedaled, soft-pedaling, soft-pedalled, soft-pedalling

1. to use the soft pedal.

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verb (used with object)

soft-pedaled, soft-pedaling, soft-pedalled, soft-pedalling

1. to soften the sound of by using the soft pedal.

2. Informal. to tone or play down; make less strong, as an idea or fact.

   The dean soft-pedaled the reports of cheating.

soft-pedal British  

verb

1. to mute the tone of (a piano) by depressing the soft pedal

2. informal to make (something, esp something unpleasant) less obvious by deliberately failing to emphasize or allude to it

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noun

1. a foot-operated lever on a piano, the left one of two, that either moves the whole action closer to the strings so that the hammers strike with less force or causes fewer of the strings to sound Compare sustaining pedal piano 1

soft pedal Idioms  

1. Something that de-emphasizes, restrains, or plays down, as in The mayor put a soft pedal on this potentially explosive situation. This expression alludes to the una corda or soft pedal of the piano, which reduces the volume of the sound. It gave rise to the verb soft-pedal, meaning both “reduce the volume of” or “make less emphatic, downplay.” [Early 1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of soft pedal¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Origin of soft-pedal²

First recorded in 1915–20; v. use of noun phrase soft pedal