to put the bad mouth on
- idiom
- Informal
:
hablar mal de
- Why do you always put the bad mouth on your coworkers when they're not around?
Examples
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She got upset when she heard people put the bad mouth on her new business.
-
She always puts the bad mouth on her colleagues.
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Please don't put the bad mouth on the book before you've actually read it.
-
Don't put the bad mouth on him!
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Please don't put the bad mouth on the book before you've actually read it.
-
She got upset when she heard people put the bad mouth on her new business.
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Why do you always put the bad mouth on your coworkers when they're not around?
Synonyms
701
3.3
To say what is wrong with someone or something
48
7.8
To say bad things about someone without a good reason to make them seem less important
43
7.9
To say or write bad things about someone to harm them
37
5.9
To criticize someone strongly
33
7.7
To say harmful or false things about someone to hurt them
28
7.7
To speak badly about someone or something to show little respect
23
8.2
To say angry, insulting things about someone or something
15
7.6
To speak badly about someone behind their backs
5
7.5
Say insulting, bragging words to make someone angry or nervous
4
8.1
To make quick, unfair critical remarks about someone or their ideas
3
9.5
Say bad things about someone in public to show others what they did
3
8.1
Say rude or insulting things to make someone feel bad
3
8.6
To say bad things about someone to make them look worse
1
8.0
To criticize someone or something very strongly in public
1
5.8
Tell someone publicly that they did something wrong
1
6.7
To criticize someone or something strongly in public
1
7.2
Say bad things about someone to harm their reputation
1
6.8
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
To criticize someone angrily using harsh words
To say bad things about someone in public to make them feel ashamed
To make a short indirect critical remark about someone
To attack someone with angry words
To tell someone angrily that you do not like what they did
To attack or criticize someone who is already in trouble
To say something sharp to hurt or criticize someone
To criticize someone or something sharply in public
Say angry, cruel things about someone
Antonyms
How Critical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning ('to speak badly about someone') can be inferred from the constituents 'bad' + 'mouth' since they transparently index negative speech, but the full phrasal pattern 'put the ... on' is somewhat idiomatic and regionally phrased. Because the construction and word order may confuse learners and requires recognizing 'bad mouth' as a lexicalized unit (or dialectal use), the expression is only partially predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Put the bad mouth on comes from a simple image: imagine you put a bad mouth on someone, as if you give them a voice that says bad things about them. So it now means 'to criticize' or 'to speak badly about someone' so others think less of them.