ESL Blogs

English has many expressions. We should know the meaning when natives us them.
I will use expressions with 'tongue' while telling a short story.

Here you go:

Sam is sitting on the bench next to the house door when Helen, his wife, comes home.

Helen: "Hello Sam, what are you doing here, outside of the house?"

Sam doesn't answer.

Helen: "Hey, did the cat get your tongue?"

Sam still doesn't react.

Helen: " Don't you understand me? I thought English is your mother tongue, or do I speak in tongues?"

Sam is still silent just looking at his feet.
Then, suddenly, he says: "Please bite your tongue for a short moment. I am so angry at my boss. For a small slip of my tongue, while speaking in a meeting, he made me ridiculous in front of all my colleagues."

Helen looks surprised at Sam. "Your boss knows you as an excellent speaker. You have a silver tongue. I think he was joking a bit. By the way, what was the slip of your tongue?"

Sam sighs, takes his head between his hands, looks at Helen and says: "If you believe or not, it is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't tell you."

Sam shakes his head. "I cannot remember the exact wording of my flaw."

Helen starts laughing. "I hope you were able to bite your tongue in the meeting and you did not insult your boss. You could get fired."

Sam tries to smile. "I could restain my temper so as not to explode. So do not worry my dear."

Helen takes Sam's hand and kisses him gently on his forehead. "Come inside, darling. I will cook a delicious meal for you. And isn't your tongue hanging out for a cool beer?"

And here are the explanations of the expressions:

If someone asks you if a cat has got your tongue, they want to know why you don't talk.

The mother tongue is our native language.

If someone speaks in tongues, then they mysteriously speak another language.

Someone, who has a silver (also a smooth) tongue, is able to speak very well.

A slip of the tongue is a small mistake in speaking.

If there is something on the tip of my tongue, we know the word but we can't remember.

If the tongue is hanging out for something, then we really want some thing.