speak with forked tongue

speak with forked tongue
   to dissimulate
   Serpents want to have a word with animal rights enthusiasts about this usage, without which writers of screenplays for Westerns would have had to dream up another cliché:
    Owners and players act as if there were no fans, as if the fans were a myth invented by sportswriters for days when there is no... multi-millionaire owner to scold for speaking with forked tongue. (Guardian, 11 August 1994)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • speak with forked tongue — speak with (a) forked tongue to make false promises or to speak in a way which is not honest. The minister is speaking with a forked tongue, promising support he will never deliver …   New idioms dictionary

  • speak with forked tongue — v. speak with a forked tongue, speak dishonestly, speak deceptively, lie, make false statements, prevaricate …   English contemporary dictionary

  • speak/talk with forked tongue — speak/talk with (a) forked tongue : to speak in a dishonest way that is meant to deceive people His colleagues accused him of speaking with a forked tongue. • • • Main Entry: ↑forked speak/talk with (a) forked tongue see ↑forked • • • Main Entry …   Useful english dictionary

  • speak with a forked tongue — v. speak with forked tongue, speak dishonestly, speak deceptively, lie, make false statements, prevaricate …   English contemporary dictionary

  • forked tongue — noun Date: 1833 intent to mislead or deceive usually used in the phrase to speak with forked tongue …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • speak/talk with a forked tongue — speak/talk with (a) forked tongue : to speak in a dishonest way that is meant to deceive people His colleagues accused him of speaking with a forked tongue. • • • Main Entry: ↑forked speak/talk with (a) forked tongue see ↑forked • • • Main Entry …   Useful english dictionary

  • speak with a forked tongue — {v. phr.}, {literary} To lie; to say one thing while thinking of the opposite. * /I have learned not to trust Peter s promises because he speaks with a forked tongue./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • speak with a forked tongue — {v. phr.}, {literary} To lie; to say one thing while thinking of the opposite. * /I have learned not to trust Peter s promises because he speaks with a forked tongue./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • speak with a forked tongue — speak with (a) forked tongue to make false promises or to speak in a way which is not honest. The minister is speaking with a forked tongue, promising support he will never deliver …   New idioms dictionary

  • speak with a forked tongue — To say one thing and mean another, to lie, to be two faced …   The small dictionary of idiomes

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