civil tongue
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such was the importance of making sure the boss wagged a civil tongue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2015
But the incident spurred some self-reflection among many who said it was a reality check, a reminder that the country could do with a more civil tongue and some mutual respect.
From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2011
Russell Hoban knows how to keep a civil tongue in his cheek, and Emily Arnold McCully's watercolors are a happy recollection of Babar, Dumbo and the city zoo.
From Time Magazine Archive
When police came by and asked the strikers to move away from the entrance to the Kennedy Center, Slava, exiled from the U.S.S.R., kept a civil tongue in his cheek.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Then you’ll spend the night in jail for vagrancy and threatening behavior. We’ll let you on your way in the morning if you’ve learned to keep a civil tongue in your head.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
