| 释义 |
foot-in-mouth disease foot-in-mouth diseaseA habit of unintentionally saying foolish, tactless, or offensive things. He has foot-in-mouth disease, especially when he's forced to speak for too long, so try to get him off stage as soon as possible. Oh man, do I have foot-in-mouth-disease—I just congratulated Sarah's sister on being pregnant. She isn't.See also: diseasefoot-in-mouth diseasethe tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I suffer a lot from foot-in-mouth disease. Well, Ralph has foot-in-mouth disease again.See also: diseasefoot-in-mouth disease n. the tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Well, Ralph has foot-in-mouth disease again. See also: diseasefoot-in-mouth diseaseThe knack of always saying the wrong thing. The expression is both a verbal play on the foot-and-mouth disease that affects livestock and on the expression “to put one’s foot in one’s mouth,” meaning to make a verbal blunder. The latter dates from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century (see also put one’s foot in it). The current cliché is much newer, dating from the mid-twentieth century. See also: disease |