on the tip of one's tongue

1. Ready to utter something but unable to remember it at the moment, as in I met him last year and his name is on the tip of my tongue—it'll come to me in a minute. [Early 1700]

Example Sentences

Listen to the surging Say You'll Be There: the groove is penetrating, but the whole thing sounds suspiciously like an Earth, Wind and Fire song that's just on the tip of one's tongue.

Read more on Time Magazine Archive

Like the keys of a piano, the planks kept rising and falling, and unguarded passage over them entailed either a bump on the back of the neck or a bruise on the forehead or a bite on the tip of one's tongue.

Read more on Project Gutenberg