When someone is really loud and boisterous we sometimes say they need to put a sock in it or tone it down and be quiet.
This term comes from the age of old wind up Victoria phonographs where a large and painful looking needle was seemingly dragged across heavy thick 12 in records with one song on them. The music or in this case the noise came from a large horn attached to the needle that could be turned to direct the sound. These early devices did not come with a volume control and when the music or noise was too loud a sock or other cloth materials were literally put in the horn to lower the volume. Thus we have the term put a sock in it to say something or usually someone is too loud.
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