“Hold one's tongue”in other languages
Keep quiet.
English
Italian
Polish
Same idea, different pictures
All three treat the tongue as something that wants to run off. English holds it; Chaucer already used the phrase. Italian keeps it on a bridle, tenere a freno la lingua, and Polish keeps it behind the teeth, trzymać język za zębami.
More sayings in other languages
- Holy cow!
- The morning after the night before
- I could eat a horse
- Be afraid of one's own shadow
- Get up on the wrong side of the bed
- In full swing
- In one's element
- In the middle of nowhere
- Have itchy feet