Friday word: Cow-tongued

[med_cat]

Cow-Tongued [KOU-tuhngd]
(adj.)
- Having a tongue like a cow, smooth one way and rough the other; and hence, one who gives fair or foul language as may suit his purpose.
- Descriptor for one who speaks eloquently one moment, then swears like a sailor the next, depending on the mood or situation.

~Thomas Wright's 'Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English,' 1857

Used in a sentence:
“Our duplicitous manager is such a cow-tongued jerk; he’s polite and servile when he’s talking to corporate, then lambastes us like an apoplectic varlet afterwards.”

(Source: The Grandiloquent Word of the Day FB page)

Comments

[fieryphoenix.livejournal.com]

Reading the example makes me think this phrase comes with the connotation of cowardice and opportunism. At first I thought of a tendency I often have, which is to unconsciously mimic the manner of speech of the company that I'm in, but I think that's something completely different—more varied, more benign, and perhaps with its own term.

As an aside, cow tongues feel so neat. Everyone should get licked by a cow at lest once.

[med_cat]

Hmm...yes, that's different, I know what you mean. There probably is a word for it, I bet prettygoodword would know what the word is.

Regarding cow tongues, I defer to your expertise. Not been licked by a cow before, myself, but got swiped by a cow's tail once ;)