used when you are saying something in words that do not have their usual meaning 可以说〔用于所说的话不是平常的意思时〕
We have to pull down the barriers, so to speak, of poverty.
可以说,我们必须摧毁贫困的障碍。
Examples from the Corpus
so to speak• Being in charge of a lethalweapon, so to speak.• Denver had come around, so to speak.• Other than that, the world was my artisticoyster, so to speak.• To get back to business, so to speak.• He could get caught up in the story, so to speak, and little by little begin to forget himself.• The babies, so to speak, are helplessly powerful.• The whole of life, so to speak, is involved in the pursuit of the good life.• We have to pull down the barriers, so to speak, of poverty.• These constitute, so to speak, the rawmaterials for effectiveeducation perse.