"Or so John said in, and out of, the workplace"?

[alicee]

Sorry for posting it again.

I have a doubt about the sentence below:
“Peter spent days sneering at their proposals. Or so John said in, and out of, the workplace.”

What does ‘or so’ mean??
Does the sentence mean that John repeatedly talks about Peter’s behavior in the workplace and outside workplace?

Thank you all teachers and members for kind assistance.

 

[tzfujimino]

Hello, alicee.:-D

I think you are reading it incorrectly. (It shouldn't be read as "Or so...")

Or so John said in, and out of [...]

"So John said" means "That's what John said".

Please click on the link (definition #5, the ninth example sentence): http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/so

I hope my response will be of some help to you.

 

[Tdol]

The speaker is also not claiming responsibility for the accuracy of this- they are distancing themselves from it by saying that this is what John said, so don't blame the speaker if it turns out to be wrong.