IdiomBody & Senses
English
Englishmake one's mouth water
Meaning: To make one salivate in anticipation of something good.
Example: “The smell of fresh bread from the bakery makes my mouth water.”
Equivalents in other languages
French: Mettre l'eau à la bouche Literally: To put water in the mouth
Portuguese: estar com água na boca Literally: To have water in the mouth
Origin: From the real reflex of salivating at the sight or smell of good food. The phrase is found in English from the 16th century, and was soon used of anything tempting.
More English idioms
- off the top of one's head To say something without much advance preparation.
- put something on the back burner To decrease the amount of energy spent on some activity; to delay or postpone action on s…
- on the nose Exactly.
- on the tip of one's tongue Almost remembered; about to be said.
- pay someone back To respond to somebody's behavior with similar behavior.
- pay through the nose To pay a great amount; to pay too much.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Red lorry, yellow lorry. The 'l/r' alternation drill — deceptively short, yet almost impossible to say fast withou…
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
Keep exploring