So THAT's Why We Call Daytime Dramas 'Soap Operas'

We’ve recently covered how Beefeaters got their nickname (well, sort of), and we’ve shared the name Back To The Future almost got given as well.

We’ve even revealed how weather forecasters know where to point on the green screen they stand in front of. 

But what about another name and screen-based mystery? How come soap operas got their name?

It’s all in the ads, baby

It turns out that the “soap” part of the name comes from one of the main early sponsors of content ― detergent. 

BBC Learning English writes that because most of these shows took place in the daytime, products were aimed at housewives who were more likely to work in the house.

And while we associate the term with telly legends like Coronation Street and Eastenders, “soap opera” originally referred to radio shows. 

Per Britannica, “The soap opera began in the early 1930s with 15-minute daytime radio episodes and was inherited by television in the early 1950s and expanded to 30 minutes.” 

You can hear a vintage radio commercial (listed as 1920s-1950s) for White King soap ― played “before our drama begins” ― in this incredible archive.

As for the TV ads, you can see a 1956 Camay soap commercial below.

Ooh. And what about the “opera” bit?

Well, to quote Pam from Gavin & Stacey, “It’s all the drama, Mick. I just love it!”

Per BBC Learning English, the “opera” part of the name came about because “these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life.” 

Britannia agrees, saying, “Sin and violence, always offstage, frequently affected the daily lives of the family members, but good inevitably triumphed, or at least all wrongdoing was justly punished.” 

After all, are not the tragic notes of La Traviata subtly summoned in “You ain’t my mother?”

Does not the dulcet rage of Der Hölle Rache ring through each syllable of “get out of my pub?” 

I don’t know, TBH ― I’ve never gone to the opera.

But I do know my soaps, and I’m glad I know the origin of their names now, too.