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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—S

Sop

A sop in the pan. A bonnebouche, tit-bit, dainty morsel; a piece of bread soaked in the dripping of meat caught in a dripping-pan; also a bribe. (See below.)

To give a sop to Cerberus.
To give a bribe, to quiet a troublesome customer. Cerberus is Pluto's three-headed dog, stationed at the gates of the infernal regions. When persons died the Greeks and Romans used to put a cake in their hands as a sop to Cerberus, to allow them to pass without molestation.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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