[ti:Mouth Expressions] [ar:Faith Lapidus] [al:WORDS AND THEIR STORIES] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]go to 51voa.com for more... [00:10.50]Now, the VOA [00:12.93]Special English program [00:14.98]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:17.21]People use their mouths [00:20.24]for many things. [00:21.79]They eat, talk, shout and sing. [00:26.13]They smile and they kiss. [00:28.86]In the English language, [00:30.61]there are many expressions [00:32.26]using the word mouth. [00:34.59]But some of them are not so nice. [00:37.54]For example, if you say [00:39.97]bad things about a person, [00:42.02]the person might protest [00:44.05]and say "Do not bad mouth me." [00:47.35]Sometimes, people say [00:50.04]something to a friend [00:51.77]or family member that they later [00:53.96]regret because it hurts [00:56.05]that person's feelings. [00:57.41]Or they tell the person [00:59.79]something they were not [01:01.19]supposed to tell. [01:02.52]The speaker might say: [01:04.71]"I really put my foot [01:07.06]in my mouth this time." [01:09.09]If this should happen, [01:10.98]the speaker might feel [01:12.67]down in the mouth. [01:14.37]In other words, [01:16.16]he might feel sad [01:17.55]for saying the wrong thing. [01:20.00]Another situation is when [01:23.62]someone falsely claims [01:26.11]another person said something. [01:28.36]The other person might protest: [01:30.99]"I did not say that. [01:32.88]Do not put words in my mouth." [01:35.67]Information is often spread [01:39.36]through word of mouth. [01:41.25]This is general communication [01:43.80]between people, like friends [01:46.54]talking to each other. [01:48.08]"How did you hear [01:49.93]about that new movie?" [01:51.56]someone might ask. [01:52.81]"Oh, by word of mouth." [01:55.60]A more official way [01:58.59]of getting information [01:59.92]is through a company [02:01.62]or government mouthpiece. [02:04.16]This is an official spokesperson. [02:07.35]Government-run media [02:09.87]could also be called a mouthpiece. [02:12.82]Sometimes when one person [02:17.30]is speaking, he says [02:19.45]the same thing that his friend [02:22.49]was going to say. [02:23.93]When this happens, [02:25.58]the friend might say: [02:27.61]"You took the words [02:30.06]right out of my mouth!" [02:32.49]Sometimes a person has a bad [02:36.14]or unpleasant experience [02:38.43]with another person. [02:39.66]He might say that experience [02:43.15]"left a bad taste in my mouth." [02:46.03]Or the person might have had [02:49.78]a very frightening experience, [02:51.83]like being chased by an angry dog. [02:56.26]He might say: "I had my heart [02:59.95]in my mouth." [03:01.23]Some people have lots of money [03:06.62]because they were born [03:08.35]into a very rich family. [03:10.54]There is an expression [03:12.94]for this, too. [03:14.38]You might say such a person, [03:17.23]"was born with a silver spoon [03:20.61]in his mouth." [03:22.74]This rich person is the opposite [03:26.72]of a person who lives [03:28.28]from hand to mouth. [03:30.42]This person is very poor [03:33.81]and only has enough money [03:36.60]for the most important things [03:38.69]in life, like food. [03:41.03]Parents might sometimes [03:44.66]withhold sweet food from a child [03:47.74]as a form of punishment [03:50.19]for saying bad things. [03:52.04]For example, if a child says [03:55.79]things she should not say [03:57.68]to her parents, she might [04:00.30]be described as a mouthy child. [04:03.89]The parents might even tell [04:06.77]the child to stop mouthing off. [04:09.47]But enough of all this talk. [04:12.89]I have been running [04:14.94]my mouth long enough. [04:17.53](MUSIC) [04:27.73]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, [04:30.42]in VOA Special English, [04:33.21]was written by Jill Moss. [04:35.54]I'm Faith Lapidus.