Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to lay one's tongue to

to lay one's tongue to

9.8
To say a word correctly, often with difficulty
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : pronunciar
  • Despite years of study, he still couldn't lay his tongue to the correct French pronunciation.

Examples

  • Even after hearing it several times, I struggled to lay my tongue to the unusual name.

  • I can barely lay my tongue to that complicated word.

  • She was embarrassed when she failed to lay her tongue to the technical jargon.

  • Can you lay your tongue to this phrase?

  • Despite years of study, he still couldn't lay his tongue to the correct French pronunciation.

  • Even after hearing it several times, I struggled to lay my tongue to the unusual name.

  • I can barely lay my tongue to that complicated word.

Synonyms

to pronounce
vsto lay one's tongue to
204 1.0

To say a word or sound in a certain way

is about managing to say it often with effort or difficulty

Antonyms

to mispronounce
15 3.7

Say a word or sound in the wrong way

to stumble over one's words
  • Informal
1 5.6

To speak with small pauses and mistakes because you are nervous

How Clearly

to enunciate
6 5.8
to lay one's tongue to
  • Archaic
9.8
to pronounce
204 1.0
to mumble
103 4.9
to garble
8 8.0

Surface Forms

lay one's tongue to infinitive
laying one's tongue to present participle
lays one's tongue to third person singular
laid one's tongue to past
laid one's tongue to past participle

Morphology

lay + one + tongue + to

The words 'tongue' (organ of speech) and 'lay' (to place) create a plausible metaphor of positioning the tongue to produce a sound, so a learner might infer a relation to articulation. However, the exact phrasing 'lay one's tongue to' is uncommon and somewhat idiomatic, and the specific sense 'be able to pronounce (often with difficulty)' is not fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Lay one's tongue to may come from the simple image of placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth or teeth to shape a sound. That's why saying you can lay your tongue to a word means you can 'say it correctly'.