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Look up tongue-in-cheek in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Tongue-in-cheek is a term used to refer to humour in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its sarcasm is subtle. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "Ironic, slyly humorous; not meant to be taken seriously".
History
Tongue-in-cheek fiction seems to abide by the conventions of an established serious genre, but gently pokes fun at some aspects of that genre, while still relying on its conventions. Examples of tongue-in-cheek films include Shaun of the Dead, Ninotchka, Demolition Man, True Lies, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans One of the earliest records of the expression is in The Fair Maid of Perth, by Sir Walter Scott in 1828
- "The fellow who gave this all-hail thrust his tongue in his cheek to some scapegraces like himself."
In Washington Irving's story "Rip Van Winkle," the townspeople listening to Rip's story of falling asleep for twenty years were said to have "put their tongues in their cheeks" because they thought it was a joke or a lie. While the meaning of the expression here is slightly different, it is related and dates to 1819.[1]
References
- Mary Morris (1988). Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-015862-X.
- ^ Rip Van Winkle, Rip Van Winkle, Wikipedia