tongue-in-cheek

See also: tongue in cheek

English

Alternative forms

tongue in cheek

Etymology

This phrase alludes to the facial expression created by putting one's tongue in one's cheek. The term first appeared in print in 1828,^[1] but it isn't entirely clear that it was used with the modern, rather than a literal, sense. A later citation from Richard Barham is unambiguous.^[2]

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Adjective

tongue-in-cheek (comparative more tongue-in-cheek, superlative most tongue-in-cheek)

(idiomatic) Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:witty

He gave a tongue-in-cheek explanation of why the sky was blue, offering a theory about some primordial discount on light blue paint.
- 2021 December 29, Conrad Landin, “Glasgow Subway: a city institution”, in RAIL, number 947, page 45:
  It was in this era, too, that author and Scotland the Brave songwriter Cliff Hanley penned The Glasgow Underground, a tongue-in-cheek love letter to the Subway in song.

Translations

witty, jocular, humorous

French: second degré (fr)
German: augenzwinkernd
Greek: αστείος (el) (asteíos), χιουμοριστικός (el) (chioumoristikós)
Hungarian: kaján (hu)
Polish: z przymrużeniem oka (pl)
Russian: насме́шливый (ru) (nasméšlivyj), лука́вый (ru) (lukávyj), шутливый (ru) (šutlivyj)
Swedish: med glimten i ögat (sv)

Adverb

tongue-in-cheek (not comparable)

(obsolete) With contempt.
With irony.
He portrayed them tongue-in-cheek as great lawgivers, as Solons.

References

^ Walter Scott (1828) chapter VIII, in Fair Maid of Perth: “It is true, the fellow who gave this all hail thrust his tongue in his cheek to some scapegraces like himself; […]”
^ Richard Barham (1845) “The Black Mousquetaire”, in The Ingoldsby Legends, page 236: “He examined the face, And the back of the case, / And the young Lady's portrait there, done on enamel, he / "Saw by the likeness was one of the family;" / Cried "Superbe! Magnifique!" / (With his tongue in his cheek)”