Tongue-in-cheek is anidiom that describes a humorous orsarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning.[1][2][3] Early users of the phrase includeSir Walter Scott in his 1828The Fair Maid of Perth.
The physical act of putting one'stongue into one'scheek once signifiedcontempt.[4] For example, inTobias Smollett'sThe Adventures of Roderick Random, which was published in 1748, the eponymous hero takes a coach toBath and on the way apprehends ahighwayman. This provokes an altercation with a less brave passenger:
He looked back and pronounced with a faltering voice, 'O! 'tis very well—damn my blood! I shall find a time.' I signified my contempt of him by thrusting my tongue in my cheek, which humbled him so much, that he scarce swore another oath aloud during the whole journey.[5]
The phrase appears in 1828 inThe Fair Maid of Perth bySir Walter Scott:
The fellow who gave this all-hail thrust his tongue in his cheek to somescapegraces like himself.
It is not clear how Scott intended readers to understand the phrase.[1] The more modernironic sense appeared in a poem inThe Ingoldsby Legends (1842) by the English clergymanRichard Barham, in which a Frenchman inspects a watch and cries:
'Superbe! Magnifique!' / (with his tongue in his cheek)[1]
The ironic usage originates with the idea of suppressed mirth—biting one's tongue to prevent an outburst of laughter.[6]
Other literary works described using the term includeBella byJilly Cooper.[7]
The dictionary definition oftongue-in-cheek at Wiktionary