View source for Tongue-in-cheek

{{short description|Idiom indicating humor or sarcasm}}
[[File:18330518 PAGE Ten pin alley - Philadelphia - The Boston Morning Post.png |thumb |upright=1.5 | A newspaper clipping from 1833, in which a tailor whose coat was stolen from a bowling alley advertises an offer to alter the coat to fit the thief]]
'''Tongue-in-cheek''' is an [[idiom]] that describes a humorous or [[sarcasm|sarcastic]] statement expressed in a serious manner.

==History==
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning.<ref name=owens/><ref>{{citation |title=Contrastive metaphor of Korean and English revealed in 'mouth' and 'tongue' expressions |first=H. | last=Chay}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Use Your Body |first =I. G. |last= Zoltan |journal=Philologia |year=2006}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{citation |title=From the Horse's Mouth |first=John |last=Ayto |publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC8_tRvBSvsC |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-954379-3}}</ref> For example, in [[Tobias Smollett]]'s ''[[The Adventures of Roderick Random]],'' which was published in 1748, the eponymous hero takes a coach to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and on the way apprehends a [[highwayman]]. This provokes an altercation with a less brave passenger:
{{quote|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.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ld8kAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA200 |title=The adventures of Roderick Random | first=Tobias George |last=Smollett |year=1780}}</ref>}}

The phrase appears in 1828 in ''[[The Fair Maid of Perth]]'' by [[Sir Walter Scott]]: 
{{quote|The fellow who gave this all-hail thrust his tongue in his cheek to some [[:wikt:scapegrace|scapegrace]]s like himself.}}

It is not clear how Scott intended readers to understand the phrase.<ref name="owens">{{cite news |last=Owens |first=Gene |date=4 December 2007 |title='Tongue in cheek' is cut-and-dried phrase |work=The Oklahoman |publisher=Phrases.org |url=http://newsok.com/article/3176644/1196722011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207043553/https://oklahoman.com/article/3176644/tongue-in-cheek-is-cut-and-dried-phrase |archive-date=2021-02-07 }}</ref> The more modern [[irony|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:
{{quote|'' 'Superbe!  Magnifique!' '' / (with his tongue in his cheek)<ref name=owens/>}}

The ironic usage originates with the idea of suppressed mirth&mdash;biting one's tongue to prevent an outburst of laughter.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEL0XOWn0sEC&pg=PA37 |title=The body language phrasebook |first=Nick |last=Marshallsay |publisher= Collins & Brown |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84340-304-3}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Slang dictionary]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

[[Category:English-language idioms]]
[[Category:Humour]]
[[Category:Satire]]
[[Category:Tongue]]