forked tongue
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
speaking dishonestly or hypocritically
Literally: a tongue that is forked
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The politician was accused of having a forked tongue for promising one thing and doing another
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “forked tongue” mean?
speaking dishonestly or hypocritically Literally: a tongue that is forked
Is “forked tongue” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.