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Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories. |
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People use their mouths for many things. |
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They eat, talk, shout and sing. |
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They smile and they kiss. |
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In the English language, there are many expressions using the word "mouth." |
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But some of them are not so nice. |
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For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say "Do not badmouth me!" |
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Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person's feelings. |
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Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell. |
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The speaker might say "I really put my foot in my mouth this time." |
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If this should happen, the speaker might feel "down in the mouth." |
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In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing. |
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Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. |
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The other person might protest "I did not say that. |
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Do not put words in my mouth!" |
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Information is often spread through "word of mouth." |
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This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. |
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"How did you hear about that new movie?" someone might ask. |
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"Oh, by ‘word of mouth.'" |
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A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. |
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This is an official spokesperson. |
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Government-run media could also be called "a mouthpiece." |
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Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. |
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When this happens, the friend might say "You took the words right out of my mouth!" |
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Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. |
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He might say that experience "left a bad taste in my mouth." |
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Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. |
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He might say "I had my heart in my mouth." |
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Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. |
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There is an expression for this, too. |
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You might say such a person was "born with a silver spoon in his mouth." |
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This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives "from hand to mouth." |
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This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life -- |
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like food. |
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Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. |
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For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as "a mouthy child." |
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The parents might even tell the child to "stop mouthing off." |
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But enough of all this talk. |
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I have been running my mouth long enough. |
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Words and Their Stories, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. |
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I'm Faith Lapidus. |
