I should have said “soft-pedal” earlier not “soft-peddle.”

Heads will role.

(That was a joke).

Update: Sorry folks, but it really is soft-pedal. I know it doesn’t make intuitive sense, which is why I got it wrong. But the phrase comes from music, i.e. to play down a chord or tune, as in when you’re playing the organ.

Update II: Sigh: From a reader (One of many):

The soft pedal is the left-most pedal on a piano. On an upright piano it
lowers the hammers so they don’t gain too much momentum before striking the
strings. On a grand piano it moves the hammers so they don’t hit all the
strings.
No such pedal on an organ (although there is a crescendo pedal, which
gradually and sequentially brings more and more pipes into action).
Is this more than you want to know?