Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

gespaltene Zunge

English translation:

to speak with forked tongue

Added to glossary by Eszter Bokor
Oct 13, 2006 08:27
17 yrs ago
German term

gespaltene Zunge

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
"Mit gespaltener Zunge sprechen" - In Romanen wird dies den "Indianern" in den Mund gelegt, angeblich haben sie so usgedrückt, dass jemand lügt.
Change log

Oct 13, 2006 08:46: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary" , "Field (write-in)" from "general" to "(none)"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Francis Lee (X)

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Discussion

Craig Meulen Oct 13, 2006:
Agree with all the answerers - and if you want to know what can happen if you lie too much, check out (beware, not for the easily shocked or those eating their dinner):
http://www.bmeworld.com/amago/

Proposed translations

+5
4 mins
Selected

to speak with forked tongue

= making false promises or speaking in a manner that hides the real motivation.
Peer comment(s):

agree DC Josephs : "white man speak with forked tongue" - classic B-movie cliche. s.a. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forked_tongue
1 hr
agree franglish
1 hr
agree Ulrike Kraemer
3 hrs
agree jccantrell : with DC on this one.
5 hrs
agree Diana Loos
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+6
2 mins

(to talk with) forked tongue

check any good dictionary
Peer comment(s):

agree Henry Schroeder
11 mins
agree Thomas Bollmann
14 mins
agree Steffen Walter
16 mins
agree Kathi Stock
1 hr
agree Frosty
3 hrs
agree Rebecca Garber
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 mins

forked tongue

:-)

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Note added at 4 mins (2006-10-13 08:31:13 GMT)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forked_tongue
Something went wrong...
3 mins

forked tongue

I believe this is the expression.
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

to speak out of two sides of your mouth

another option
Something went wrong...
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