IdiomBody & Senses
Russian
Russianязык проглотил (yazyk proglotil)
Meaning: To be unable or unwilling to speak; to remain silent when words are called for.
Literally: Swallowed the tongue
Example: “Что молчишь, язык проглотил?” — Why so quiet? Has the cat got your tongue?
English equivalent: Has the cat got your tongue?
Equivalents in other languages
English: has the cat got your tongue?
Origin: "Have you swallowed your tongue?" is asked of someone who has gone silent when they should speak. Russian Wiktionary records the sense of falling silent from no later than 1789, and Sholokhov uses it in Virgin Soil Upturned. English "cat got your tongue?" is the same question.
More Russian idioms
- метать бисер перед свиньями (metat' biser pered svin'yami) To offer something precious or refined to someone incapable of appreciating it.
- сушить сухари (sushit' sukhari) To prepare oneself mentally and materially for imprisonment or arrest.
- отбросить копыта (otbrosit' kopyta) To die, to kick the bucket.
- чепуха на постном масле (chepukha na postnom masle) Complete and utter nonsense or rubbish.
- пан или пропал (pan ili propal) To risk everything on a single venture; all or nothing, sink or swim.
- горе луковое (gore lukovoye) A person who is accident-prone, hapless, or bumbling; one who causes trouble by their own…
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Любопытной Варваре на базаре нос оторвали (Lyubopytnoy Varvare na bazare nos otorvali) Being too curious about other people's business gets you into trouble.
- Пришла беда — отворяй ворота (Prishla beda — otvoryay vorota) Misfortunes never come alone; once trouble starts, more follows.
- Там хорошо, где нас нет (Tam khorosho, gde nas net) Other places always seem better than where you are.
Keep exploring