| 释义 |
Bite your tongue! Bite your tongue!Stop talking! An expression of frustration with what someone is saying, often because it is pessimistic. A: "Oh, I don't think I'm going to get the job." B: "Bite your tongue! You don't know that for sure."See also: biteBite your tongue!Fig. an expression said to someone who has just stated an unpleasant supposition that unfortunately maybe true. Mary: I'm afraid that we've missed the plane already. Jane: Bite your tongue! We still have time. Mary: Marry him? But you're older than he is! Sally: Bite your tongue!See also: bitebite your tongue COMMON If you bite your tongue, you do not say something that you would like to say. All I can do is to bite my tongue if I want to keep my job.See also: bite, tonguebite your tongue make a desperate effort to avoid saying something.See also: bite, tonguebite your ˈtongue stop yourself from saying something that might upset somebody or cause an argument, although you want to speak: I didn’t believe her explanation but I bit my tongue. OPPOSITE: give somebody a piece of your mindSee also: bite, tonguebite your tongueHope that what you just said doesn’t come true. This imperative is a translation of the Yiddish saying, Bays dir di tsung, and is used in informal conversation. For example, “You think it’ll rain on their outdoor ceremony? Bite your tongue!” A much older but related phrase is to bite one’s tongue, meaning to remain silent when provoked—literally, to hold it between one’s teeth so as to suppress speaking. Shakespeare had it in Henry VI, Part 2 (1.1): “So Yorke must sit, and fret, and bite his tongue.” See also hold one's tongue.See also: bite, tongue |