English · Idiom Candidate

word of mouth

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Information or recommendation spread by people talking to each other

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Thông tin hoặc khuyến nghị được lan truyền qua cuộc trò chuyện

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: words spoken from one person's mouth

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

From this grew the notion that the pope had the power not simply to explain and interpret the law, but to make it, whether by word of mouth in councils or by letter.

There is a case for writing reports but the Profitboss prefers not to make it, preferring to profit from an accurate word of mouth.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To drink by word of mouth, i.e. out of the bowl or bottle instead, of a glass.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

uống trực tiếp từ bình hoặc chai

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent truyền khẩu (verb) to be passed down orally; by word of mouth Tiếng Việt Near equivalent truyền miệng (verb) to be passed down orally; by word of mouth Tiếng Việt

Topics: Mouth & tongue Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “word of mouth” mean?

Information or recommendation spread by people talking to each other Literally: words spoken from one person's mouth

Is “word of mouth” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“truyền khẩu” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.