一日一成语【51】with one’s tongue in one’s cheek

with one’s tongue in one’s cheek

tongue和cheek这两个词恐怕大家都认识，tongue是“舌头”，cheek是“脸颊”，with one’s tongue in one’s cheek —舌头在脸颊里，这听上去似乎是不能理解的。这是一个用以形容某种说话方式的状语短语。每个人的舌头都是长在自己的嘴巴里的，说话时，灵活的舌头应该在中嘴里发挥它的作用；如果说起话来，舌头跑到脸颊里却了，这多别扭，多不自然。因此，with one’s tongue in one’s cheek指的是说话不真诚，说的话不作数，或者以讽刺的口吻说话。其中的两个one’s都可省去，变成with tongue in cheek:

We think he is difficult to be trusted because too many times we have found him speak with his tongue in his cheek.
我们觉得很难相信他，因为有很多次我们发现他说话不作数。

Do you think he will really present you with a bouquet of roses at the end of the performance? He did not mean it; he was speaking with tongue in cheek.
你以为人真的会在演出结束时给你献上一束玫瑰花吗？他不是当真的，拿你开心罢了。