to speak out of both sides of one's mouth
1
9.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
hablar con doble moral
- It's frustrating to hear someone speak out of both sides of their mouth when they tell different stories to different groups.
Examples
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Mitt Romney is a Mormon, but he's also a politician who has to speak out of both sides of his mouth to reach an audience because that's what politicians do.
Blog text (13) -
Some speak out of both sides of their mouths, professing how horrible Shariah is but demanding a rape victim carry her rapist's child, not to mention voter suppression and many other ideals that keep the rich in their place and the rest of us under their thumb.
Blog text (13) -
Mark Twain spoke out of both sides of his mouth.
Academic text (2014) -
He seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth; he has good as well as bad things to say about women and Jews.
Academic text (2000) -
But then Democrats speak out of both sides of their mouths.
Blog text (5) -
The Republicans are speaking out of both sides of their mouths.
Blog text (8) -
He speaks out of both sides of his mouth by making weak criticisms of the Bloomberg/Klein regime while simultaneously backing the real estate grabs of the charter school industry.
Blog text (22) -
During the debate, the candidate seemed to speak out of both sides of his mouth about his policies, promising voters one thing while contradicting himself in the next sentence.
-
She tends to speak out of both sides of her mouth, often agreeing with both sides of a controversial issue without committing to either.
Synonyms
7
9.9
To use unclear words to avoid giving a direct answer or telling the truth
1
9.6
Say things that are not true to trick others
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
speak + out + of + both + side + of + one + mouth
The literal image of 'speaking from both sides of one's mouth' (speak + both sides + mouth) gives a clear hint of saying contradictory things, so a B1 learner who knows the words could infer part of the meaning. However, the idiomatic nuance of hypocrisy, deceit, or deliberately inconsistent statements is metaphorical and not fully predictable from the parts, so prior exposure is usually needed for the full sense.
Etymology
Speak out of both sides of one's mouth paints the picture of a person who seems to talk from both sides of their mouth, as if telling one thing to one group and another thing to a different group at the same time. So it means 'to say opposite things' or 'to be insincere'.