silver tongue

English

Etymology

From silver (adjective, noun) +‎ tongue (noun). Sense 1 (“trait of being articulate and clever at speaking”) is probably from silver-tongued, which is attested earlier than the noun.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌsɪlvəˈtʌŋ/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˌsɪlvəɹˈtʌŋ/
  • Audio (General Australian):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌŋ
  • Hyphenation: sil‧ver tongue

Noun

silver tongue (plural silver tongues)

  2. (idiomatic) The trait of being articulate and clever at speaking, often in a deceitful way.
    • 1835, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Festival”, in Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book IV (The Triumph and the Pomp), pages 189–190:
      [H]e passed into the saloon, where Nina presided; and here his fair person and silver tongue […] won him a more general favour with the matrons than he experienced with their lords, and not a little contrasted the formal and nervous compliments of the good Bishop, who served him on such occasions with an excellent foil.
  3. (US) The song sparrow (Melospiza melodia).

Alternative forms

  • (bird): silver-tongue

Translations

References

  1. ^ “silver tongue, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2023.
  2. ^ “silver tongue, adj.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  3. ^ “silver, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024; “silver, n., adj., and v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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