forked tongue

forked tongue

A trait of someone who speaks in a dishonest or deceitful manner. Often used in the phrase "speak with (a) forked tongue." I wouldn't trust a thing Caitlin says, she's always speaking with a forked tongue.
See also: forked, tongue
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • rob (one) blind
  • rob blind
  • rob somebody blind
  • rob someone blind
  • economical with the truth
  • be on the fiddle
  • economical
  • be economical with the truth
  • on the fiddle
  • steal (one) blind
References in periodicals archive
Unlike a serpentine forked tongue that depicts deceit and treachery, a human being is blessed with a tongue that has just one tip signifying the unity of truthful speech.
Tongue in check
She found the candidate with the forked tongue after a week, but the wrestlers proved more difficult.
Casting agent needed pull--and wrestlers
tradition of speaking with a forked tongue is long and dishonourable, as the actions taken by the U.S.
US Veto: Speaking with Forked Tongue
A lot of the stories are told with a forked tongue - something that few writers could get away with.
REVIEW: Sacred Monsters, Sacred Masters
That old Red Indian saying `man speaks with forked tongue' springs to mind; the LACS has an ulterior motive, their own survival, and clearly cannot be trusted.
Letters: Batchelor hiding real message?; A reader feels the League Against Cruel Sports has a hidden agenda
speaks then with forked tongue, and the lives of the poor workers do not improve.
"The Two Faces of the U.S. Government"
RUBY says "fangs but no fangs" as she comes face to forked tongue with some very slippery - and very poisonous - characters.
SUNDAY TV: TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
The forked tongue has spoken for 800 years and more;
Eileen Aroon
Come join the ranks Up North"--signifies an experience known too well by Afro-America: The Big White Lie, The Forked Tongue, The Betrayal.
Noise/Funk: Fo' real Black theatre on 'Da great White way
Those who try to trivialise the issue and muddy the waters with their inane talk of colour and free trade remind me of those cowboy and indian films many moons ago and the retort: "White man speak with forked tongue!" How outrageous when a person of the calibre of Mr Blair declares: "The national humiliation is we think the colour of our passports defines our sense of nationhood." Does this "weapons of mass destruction" silly man not recognise the intellectual vacuity of his insulting words?
Stand up for Britain in passport outrage
0121 345 0600 THEATRE The Circus of Horrors An amazing amalgamation of bizarre and fantastic circus acts all woven into a sensational shock / horror story, performed with a forked tongue firmly in each cheek.
What's On
Summary: Many of us speak English with a forked tongue. Say that in a nice way.
When you spik inglis oll rong
Sinew-sewn and beaded in colors of dark blue, pink, red white-heart, pea green, and translucent; forked tongue; split and angled cuffs; length 10.75 in., late 19th century.
COWAN'S AUCTIONS
"That involved the removal of an ear, secondly the division of a tongue to create a forked tongue and, thirdly, the removal of a nipple."
Jail for sick tattooist who sliced off ears
"This is why you still need to whip out that forked tongue of yours just to pull down the rivals of your allies," she said.
Leila de Lima says admin line up no match to 'Otso Diretso' senatorial bets