tongue in cheek........

[lushrhian]

does anybody know what the phrase tongue in cheek means?

[Suzyboo]

Yes

[Neutron]

Hi, lushrhian, it seems Suzyboo knows all right!

Here goes: the phrase first appeared in The Ingoldsby Legends by Richard Harris Barham, a clergyman, around 1840 and referred to gentle humour, someone gently poking fun by his comment. That's what Google says anway.

Cheers.

[Quizmonster]

It usually means jokingly or insincerely nowadays. When it was first used in written English - by Tobias Smollett in his novel, Roderick Random, published in 1748 - it suggested some stronger emotion. He wrote: "I signified my contempt of him by thrusting my tongue in my cheek." It can also suggest that one is making an effort not to laugh. The actual form �tongue in cheek' - ie these exact words in that order - did not appear until the 1930s and the hyphenated version �tongue-in-cheek' - not until the 1950s.

[Garamond]

Suzyboo - love it