roll off the tongue

English

Alternative forms

• roll off one's tongue, roll from the tongue, roll from one's tongue, run from the tongue, run off the tongue, trip from the tongue, trip off the tongue

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

roll off the tongue (third-person singular simple present rolls off the tongue, present participle rolling off the tongue, simple past and past participle rolled off the tongue)

1. (idiomatic, of words, speech, etc.) To proceed into oral expression in a manner which is fluent, appealing, or glib.
   • 1914, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 5, in The Subterranean Brotherhood:

     "Coddling criminals"—the alliteration makes it roll pleasantly off the tongue!

   • 1915, Joseph A. Altsheler, chapter 14, in The Rock of Chickamauga:

     [H]e repeated under his breath: "The Rock of Chickamauga! The Rock of Chickamauga!" It rolled resoundingly off the tongue, and he liked it.

   • 1978 November 20, “Dance: Fungus, Fantasy and Fun”, in Time:

     Pilobolus is a word so fine and fat as it rolls off the tongue that, like a kitten or a May morning, it needs no meaning.

   • 1986, Marc Jordan, John Capek, “Rhythm of My Heart”, in Vagabond Heart‎^[1], performed by Rod Stewart, published 1991:

     Oh, the rhythm of my heart / Is beatin' like a drum / With the words "I love you" / Rolling off my tongue

   • 2012 July 14, Kate Murphy, “Eric Stonestreet”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 August 2012:

     I'm a fan of Aaron Sorkin. . . . I just like the way his dialogue rolls off the tongue. I like to hear people say the words he writes.

Translations

proceed into oral expression in a manner which is fluent

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 朗朗上口 (zh) (lǎnglǎngshàngkǒu)

• Finnish: soljua
• Russian: срываться с языка (sryvatʹsja s jazyka)

References

• “roll off the tongue”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.