How well do you know the “lengua espanola”? Test your knowledge with these phrases featuring the word “lengua”.
- Buscarle la lengua a alguien (colloquial): to try to pick a quarrel with sb, be spoiling for a fight/an argument
- Con la lengua fuera (col): to be out of breath, panting, dog-tired
- Darle a la lengua (col): to chatter away
- Estar con/llevar la lengua fuera (col): to be dead beat, to have one’s tongue hanging out
- Irse de la lengua (col): to let the cat out of the bag, spill the beans, blow the gaff, shoot one’s mouth off (about sth)
- Las malas lenguas (col): gossip
- Lengua culta/vulgar (hist): Latin/the vernacular, (registro) educated/common speech
- Lengua de tierra: spit of land, tongue of land
- Lengua de trapo (col): baby talk
- Lengua oficial: official language
- Lengua viperina/de víbora: evil/sharp/vicious tongue
- Media lengua: baby talk
- Morderse la lengua (fig) (col): to bite one’s tongue
- No morderse la lengua (col): to not mince one’s words
- No tener lengua (col): to have lost one’s tongue
- No tener pelos en la lengua (col): to not mince (one’s) words, be out-spoken
- Sacarle la lengua a alguien (burla): to stick one’s tongue out at sb
- Soltar la lengua (col): to loosen one’s tongue
- ¿Te ha comido la lengua el gato? (col): has the cat got your tongue?
- Tener algo en la punta de la lengua (col) to have sth on the tip of one’s tongue
- Tener la lengua larga (col): to talk too much
- Tirar de la lengua (col): (sonsacar) to make someone talk; (provocando) to wind someone up
- Trabársele la lengua: to get tongue-tied
Source: Diccionario Longman Advanced 2003 (Edición en CD-ROM)