Lengua

The WOTD is: 'lengua' = tongue

In Spanish, the noun 'lengua' is a feminine noun of Latin origin, the main meaning of which is tongue (the organ). The Spanish noun 'lengua' may also be used to refer to a structured system/ method for oral and written human communication (language).

Some expressions containing the word 'lengua' in them are:

• Aflojar la lengua (to say something unintentionally/ to spill the beans).
• Andar en lenguas (to be the subject of gossip).
• Comerle a alguien la lengua los ratones (to have lost the tongue).
• Con la lengua fuera (really tired/ dead beat).
• Con la lengua de un palmo (really tired/ dead beat).
• Darle a la lengua (to chatter/ talk/ gossip a lot).
• Desatársele la lengua a alguien (to become very talkative).
• Hablar con lengua de plata (to grease someone's palm).
• Irse de la lengua (to say something unintentionally/ to spill the beans).
• Lengua azul (bluetongue-disease in sheep and less frequently in other ovines and cattle).
• Lengua bífida (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua de escorpión (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua de estropajo (mumbling).
• Lengua de fuego (tongues of fire).
• Lengua de hacha (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua de oc (Languedoc old language).
• Lengua de oíl (Langue d'oil old French language).
• Lengua de serpiente (forked tongued person).
• Lengua de sierpe (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua de tierra (spit of land).
• Lengua de trapo (baby talk).
• Lengua de víbora (1) (fossil shark's tooth).
• Lengua de víbora (2) (poisonous tongue-person)
• Lengua franca (lingua franca).
• Lengua madre  (mother tongue of a language).
• Lengua materna (mother tongue of a group of people).
• Lengua muerta (dead language-no longer in use/ spoken).
• Lengua natural (mother tongue of a group of people).
• Lengua popular (mother tongue of a group of people).
• Lengua santa (Hebrew language).
• Lengua serpentina (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua viperina (poisonous tongue-person).
• Lengua viva (alive language-language in current use).
• Lenguas hermanas (languages sharing a common mother tongue).
• Largo de lengua (shameless/ reckless talking).
• Ligero de lengua (unrestrained talking).
• Mala lengua (gossip).
• Malas lenguas (the grapevine).
• Media lengua (tongue related speech impediment and person suffering from it).
• Morderse la lengua (to bite one's tongue).
• Parecer que alguien ha comido lengua (said when someone goes on and on).
• Sacar la lengua a alguien (to stick the tongue out to somebody).
• Ser alguien lengua sucia (to be a foul mouth).
• Soltar la lengua (to spill the beans).
• Suelto de lengua (unrestrained talking).
• Tener alguien la lengua gorda (to be drunk/ inebriated).
• Tener mala lengua (to be a foul mouth/ poisonous tongue-person).
• Tener mucha lengua (to be talkative/ chatty/ gossipy in excess).
• Tirar de la lengua a alguien (to pull/ drag things out of somebody).
• Trabarse la lengua (tongue twisting/ speech impediment).
• Trabarlenguas (tongue twister).

Examples of the use of the word 'lengua' are:

• A Pedro el vino le aflojó la lengua (wine caused Pedro to spill the beans).
• Lo que hicieste anoche anda en lenguas por ahí (what you did last night is the subject of all gossip).
• ¿Te comieron la lengua los ratones? (have you lost your tongue?/ has the cat got your tongue?).
• Llegamos con la lengua fuera (we were dead beat when we arrived).
• ¡Deja de darle a la lengua y vamonos! (stop chatting, lets go!).
• Hablando con lengua de plata quizás consigas algo (greasing someone's palm you might get somewhere).
• Espero que no te vayas de la lengua (I hope you don't spill the beans).
• El latín es la lengua madre del español (Latin is the mother tongue of Spanish).
• El español es la lengua materna de los españoles (Spanish is the mother tongue of the Spaniards).
• El italiano y el español son lenguas hermanas (Italian and Spanish are languages which share a common mother tongue).
• Parece que has comido lengua, ¿por qué no paras un poco? (you are going on and on, why don't you give it a rest?).
• ¡No me saques la lengua, que es de mala educación! (don't stick your tongue out to me, it is bad manners!).
• ¡Cuidado con tirarme de la lengua! (be careful, don't make me talk!).
• Ese trabalenguas es muy bueno (that is a very good tongue twister).

Love-Spanish.com loves the word 'lengua' in the follwing YouTube clip: Las Malas Lenguas - Santiago y Luis Auserón

 

For more on the word 'lengua', visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Lengua

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “lengua” in the link to hear the word pronounced. 

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