In Blackjack what is a 'soft 16'?

That means that you are dealt an 'Ace' and a '5'. The ace is valued at 1 or 11 and in this case is an 11 for a total of 16. It would have been to your benefit to take another card at that point (hit). It would have been impossible to 'bust out' (go over 21) as any card you take would have increased your hands value, and if the card had been higher than a 5, the orignal Ace you had could be worth a one then. SO if you had taken ahit and got a 4, the hand would be a 20 total; that's a good hand. If you got a 5, you would have had '21' ! If you got anything higher, say a 10 value card, your original ace would be a 1 and the total for your hand would be a 16 still. You would then take another card.