to shoot one's mouth off
5
8.0
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
hablar sin cuidado
- She tends to shoot her mouth off at parties, boasting about her accomplishments.
- always shooting one's mouth off
- shooting one's mouth off too
Examples
-
You should've found out before you shot your mouth off.
-
You should actually read her testimony before shooting your mouth off; it makes you look less foolish.
Blog text (22) -
So you can go to a bar and shoot your mouth off?
-
Then he went around shooting his mouth off, telling everyone I was as good as dead.
Fiction book (1999) -
You don't shoot your mouth off until you do some research or know all the facts.
Blog text (28) -
First off, I just wanna say that, Gino, you've been shooting your mouth off way, way too long about me and my family.
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No matter where we go, the old man’s always shooting his mouth off.
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Being a pundit is an awesome job because you get paid for shooting your mouth off, and you really don't have to have much to back it up.
Blog text (14) -
He got into trouble for shooting his mouth off about the secret project.
-
If you keep shooting your mouth off, you might regret what you said.
Synonyms
42
3.9
Say something suddenly without thinking
28
8.3
To speak rudely and loudly to a person in charge
6
8.1
To speak or act quickly without thinking carefully
6
7.8
To talk too much and tell secrets carelessly
5
7.5
Say insulting, bragging words to make someone angry or nervous
4
8.1
To act or speak without thinking first and cause problems
3
8.4
Talk too much and say things you should not
1
8.9
Talk back rudely to someone in charge
1
8.9
To speak quickly without thinking and risk upsetting people
1
9.4
Say things quickly without thinking that may hurt people or make you sorry later
To say proud things to make yourself seem better than you are
To say something quickly without thinking
To say something quickly and carelessly without thinking
To tell secrets without thinking
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent 'mouth' clearly signals speech and 'off' can function as an intensifier, so there is a partial, metaphorical link to talking; however 'shoot' in its literal sense (to fire) does not directly yield the sense of speaking carelessly or boastfully. The phrase relies on a figurative extension and idiomatic pattern (similar to 'mouth off'), so a B1 learner who only knows the literal meanings would likely not fully predict the exact pragmatic sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom shoot one's mouth off may come from the image of someone shoot words from their mouth like bullets, saying things quickly and without thinking. That's why it now means 'to speak carelessly or boastfully'.