tongues wag

Idioms  

1. People are gossiping. For example, Tongues wagged when another police car was parked in front of their house, or Their arrival in a stretch limousine set the neighbors' tongues wagging. This metaphoric expression transfers the rapid movement of the tongue to idle or indiscreet chatter. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tongues wag

Then, issue a press guidance that he will be making an announcement on Tuesday and watch the tongues wag.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2025

Though there are many, many reasons she might have avoided marriage, her staunch refusal made tongues wag, even centuries later.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2021

It was for other distracting reasons that the selection made tongues wag — at least among those who spend their Sunday evenings watching CBS’s “The Good Wife.”

From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2015

But smalltown tongues wag easily, and Saint-Maur's gossips, titillated by frequent glimpses of Alice and Raymond strolling in deep communion by the river's edge, let their speculation run free.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Reckon I never yet heard any daid men's tongues wag."

From To the Last Man by Grey, Zane