loose lips sink ships
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Shortening of a wartime slogan from World War II.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈlus ˈlɪps ˈsɪŋk ˈʃɪps/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪps
Proverb
[edit]- Saying too much or releasing confidential information can have dangerous consequences.
- 2000, Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, Anchor, published 2007, →ISBN, page 448:
- Loose Lips Sink Ships, said the wartime poster. Of course the ships will all sink anyway, sooner or later.
- 2014, Crystal Chan, Bird, Random House, →ISBN, page 59:
- ‘Loose lips sink ships,’ she spat at Dad once, when they were arguing about Grandpa, but ‘loose lips killed our son.’
Related terms
[edit]- loose-lipped (adj)
Translations
[edit]saying too much or releasing confidential information can have dangerous consequences
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Further reading
[edit]- loose lips sink ships on Wikipedia.Wikipedia