Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. [1] [2] [3] Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott in his 1828 The Fair Maid of Perth .
The physical act of putting one's tongue into one's cheek once signified contempt. [4] For example, in Tobias Smollett's The Adventures of Roderick Random, which was published in 1748, the eponymous hero takes a coach to Bath and on the way apprehends a highwayman. This provokes an altercation with a less brave passenger:
He looked back and pronounced with a faltering voice, 'O! 'tis very well—damn my blood! I shall find a time.' I signified my contempt of him by thrusting my tongue in my cheek, which humbled him so much, that he scarce swore another oath aloud during the whole journey. [5]
The phrase appears in 1828 in The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott:
The fellow who gave this all-hail thrust his tongue in his cheek to some scapegraces like himself.
It is not clear how Scott intended readers to understand the phrase. [1] The more modern ironic sense appeared in a poem in The Ingoldsby Legends (1842) by the English clergyman Richard Barham, in which a Frenchman inspects a watch and cries:
'Superbe! Magnifique!' / (with his tongue in his cheek) [1]
The ironic usage originates with the idea of suppressed mirth—biting one's tongue to prevent an outburst of laughter. [6]
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a British novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels Ivanhoe (1819), Rob Roy (1817), Waverley (1814), Old Mortality (1816), The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818), and The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), along with the narrative poems Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). He had a major impact on European and American literature.
Tobias George Smollett was a Scottish writer and surgeon. He was best known for writing picaresque novels such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), which influenced later generations of British novelists, including Charles Dickens. His novels were liberally altered by contemporary printers; an authoritative edition of each was edited by Dr O. M. Brack Jr and others.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1748.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1760.
James Justinian Morier was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the Qajar dynasty in Iran, most famously for the Hajji Baba series.
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle is a picaresque novel by the Scottish author Tobias Smollett, first published in 1751 and revised and published again in 1758. It tells the story of an egotistical man who experiences luck and misfortunes in the height of 18th-century European society.
The History and Adventures of an Atom is a novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1769. The novel satirises English politics during the Seven Years' War.
The Fair Maid of Perth is an 1828 novel by Sir Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels. Inspired by the strange, but historically true, story of the Battle of the North Inch, it is set in Perth and other parts of Scotland around 1400.
Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward. Its Old High German forms are Hrodric, Chrodericus, Hroderich, Roderich, Ruodrich, etc.; in Gothic language Hrōþireiks; in Old English language it appears as Hrēðrīc or Hroðrīc, and in Old Norse as Hrǿríkʀ.
The Battle of the North Inch was a staged battle between the Clan Chattan and the "Clan Quhele" in September 1396. Thirty men were selected to represent each side in front of spectators, including King Robert III of Scotland and his court, on land that is now the North Inch park in Perth, Scotland.
The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom is a novel by Tobias Smollett first published in 1753. It was Smollett's third novel and met with less success than his two previous more picaresque tales. The central character is a villainous dandy who cheats, swindles and philanders his way across Europe and England with little concern for the law or the welfare of others. He is the son of an equally disreputable mother, and Smollett himself comments that "Fathom justifies the proverb, 'What's bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh". Sir Walter Scott commented that the novel paints a "complete picture of human depravity."
Andrew Macdonald (1757–1790), pen name Matthew Bramble, was a Scottish clergyman, poet and playwright.
"Shut up" is a direct command with a meaning very similar to "be quiet", but which is commonly perceived as a more forceful command to stop making noise or otherwise communicating, such as talking. The phrase is probably a shortened form of "shut up your mouth" or "shut your mouth up". Its use is generally considered rude and impolite, and may also be considered a form of profanity by some.
Damning with faint praise is an English idiom, expressing oxymoronically that half-hearted or insincere praise may act as oblique criticism or condemnation. In simpler terms, praise is given, but only given as high as mediocrity, which may be interpreted as passive-aggressive.
The Fair Maid of Perth is a 1923 British silent adventure film directed by Edwin Greenwood and starring Russell Thorndike, Sylvia Caine and Lionel d'Aragon. It was made at Beaconsfield Studios, and based on the 1828 novel The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott.
The novel in Scotland includes all long prose fiction published in Scotland and by Scottish authors since the development of the literary format in the eighteenth century. The novel was soon a major element of Scottish literary and critical life. Tobias Smollett's picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle mean that he is often seen as Scotland's first novelist. Other Scots who contributed to the development of the novel in the eighteenth century include Henry Mackenzie and John Moore.
South Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 31 hectares in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the larger, 57-hectare (140-acre) North Inch, located half a mile across the city. The Inches were granted to the city, when it was a royal burgh, by King Robert II in 1374. Both Inches were once islands in the River Tay. The two Inches are connected by Tay Street.
Soup and Bouilli in England is a dish of boiled beef and root vegetables based on the traditional French dish pot-au-feu. The name comes from the general method in France of serving pot-au-feu as two courses—la soupe et le bouilli. In England as in France, bouilli referred to the boiled meat.
The Statue of Sir Walter Scott is a Category C listed monument at the South Inch public park in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Standing where Marshall Place and King's Place merge, at King Street, it is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, author of The Fair Maid of Perth in 1828. The statue is the work of John Cochrane and Brothers, and was completed in 1845 as one of their final works before leaving for Canada. It was accidentally acquired by the city magistrates at the sale of a local sculptor's stock. The statue originally stood at the eastern end of Perth's High Street, but was removed to its current location in 1877.
Fair Maid's House is an historic building in the centre of Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Located in North Port, it is a Category B listed building, partly dating from 1475 but mostly from 1629. It is two storeys, built of rubble, with a stair tower and slated roof. The building is most noted for providing part of the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's novel The Fair Maid of Perth (1828).
The dictionary definition of tongue-in-cheek at Wiktionary