lay one's tongue to

English

Verb

lay one's tongue to (third-person singular simple present lays one's tongue to, present participle laying one's tongue to, simple past and past participle laid one's tongue to)

1. Say; name; think of to say.
   • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 8, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC:

     Mr Lightwood, I will now name to you, that on behalf of the poor dear boy, me and Mrs Boffin have stood out against the old man times out of number, till he has called us every name he could lay his tongue to.

   • 1885, William Dean Howells, chapter 20, in The Rise of Silas Lapham‎^[1]:

     He’s been dabbling in every sort of fool thing you can lay your tongue to,—wild-cat stocks, patent-rights, land speculations, oil claims,—till he’s run through about everything.

   • 1888, Charlotte Riddell, “The Last of Squire Ennismore”, in David Marcus, editor, The Poolbeg Book of Irish Ghost Stories‎^[2], Dublin: Poolbeg, published 1990, page 255:

     He was a terrible man. You couldn’t lay your tongue to a wickedness he had not been in the forefront of—drinking, duelling, gambling,—all manner of sins had been meat and drink to him since he was a boy almost.

   • 1905–1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 17, in Sir Nigel, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published January 1906, →OCLC:

     Your face I have seen, and your coat-armor also, young sir, though I cannot lay my tongue to your name.

   • 1923, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 12, in Kangaroo, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, page 262:

     Canaille! Canaglia! Schweinerei! He loathed them in all the languages he could lay his tongue to.

   • 1953, Shirley Barker, chapter 9, in Fire and the Hammer,‎^[3], New York: Crown:

     Now it’s none of my business […] to try to make a man’s mind up for him between two girls. His politics I’ll lecture him on while my breath lasts, but the other thing I won’t lay my tongue to.

Usage notes

Most frequently used with can or could in expressions such as every word / name she could lay her tongue to.