IdiomBody & Senses
German
Germanmundtot machen
Meaning: to silence or suppress someone; to rob them of the ability or right to speak.
Literally: To make speechless
Example: “Mit einer Klage wollte die Firma den Journalisten mundtot machen.” — With a lawsuit, the company tried to shut the journalist up.
English equivalent: To shut someone up
Equivalents in other languages
English: shut someone up
Origin: Mundtot is recorded from the 17th century, and its first part is not the mouth but the old legal word Munt, guardianship, as in Vormund (guardian). A person declared mundtot was legally incapable of acting for themselves. Once the legal sense faded, the word was understood as "mouth-dead," and mundtot machen came to mean silencing someone.
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