tonguey

English

Alternative forms

• tonguy

Etymology

From Middle English tungy, tungi, equivalent to tongue +‎ -y. Compare Old English tynġe (“fluent, eloquent, skillful”).

Adjective

tonguey (comparative tonguier or more tonguey, superlative tonguiest or most tonguey)

1. (of a person) Tending to talk a lot; fluent or voluble in speech (generally with an unfavourable connotation).

   Synonyms: garrulous, loquacious, talkative

   • 1608, Philip Woodward, Bels Trial Examined, Doai, Preface,^[1]

     Seeing then he is now so mute, that before was so tonguy […]

   • 1844, Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit‎^[2], London: Chapman and Hall, Chapter , p. 267:

     “You air a tongue-y person, Gen’ral. For you talk too much, and that’s a fact,” said Scadder. “You speak a-larmingly well in public, but you didn’t ought to go ahead so fast in private. Now!”

   • 1921, Leila Amos Pendleton, “The Foolish and the Wise: Sallie Runner Is Introduced to Socrates”, in Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman, editor, The Sleeper Wakes: Harlem Renaissance Stories by Women‎^[3], New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, page 163:

     “ […] He had many friends who loved him truly and they tried to persuade him to escape, but by unanswerable arguments he proved to them how wrong they were.” ¶ “Humph!” grunted Sallie. “Tonguey to de last! An’ in de wrong way to de wrong ones.”

2. (of speech) Using many words; containing grandiloquent expressions; marked by rhetorical elegance (generally with an unfavourable connotation).

   Synonyms: bombastic, flowery, verbose

   • 1885, J. H. Battle, Kentucky: A History of the State, Louisville, KY: F.A. Battey, “Biographical Sketches,” p. 839,^[4]

     […] personal abuse and tonguy sarcasm are not elements of success in law practice.

   • 1896, F. Hopkinson Smith, Tom Grogan‎^[5], New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter , p. 186:

     “I have listened,” he said, “to the talk that Justice Rowan has given us. It’s very fine and tonguey, but it smothers up the facts. […] ”

   • 1916, Kate Stephens, “Our Country Newspaper: The Genesis of Its Spirit”, in Workfellows in Social Progression‎^[6], New York: Sturgis & Walton, page 45:

     those points especially warming to tonguey gossip—the neighboring tavern and country-store

3. (of a quality) Manifested by fluent or voluble speech.
   • 1887, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, “The Bar Light-House”, in A Humble Romance, and Other Stories‎^[7], New York: Harper & Brothers, page 182:

     […] even his tonguey confidence and ingenuousness could glean but little satisfaction from his interviews with the rheumatic and unbelieving old woman.

4. Involving the tongue.
   • 1918, F. Roney Weir, chapter 13, in Merry Andrew‎^[8], Boston: Small, Maynard, page 187:

     Wully seated himself upon the corner of the kitchen table, from beneath which appeared a dog’s welcoming nose accompanied by a tonguey, tooth-trimmed grin.

   • 1988, Hanif Kureishi, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid‎^[9], London: Faber and Faber, page 8:

     They take each other’s hands and kiss goodbye, a longish tonguey kiss […]

5. Resembling a tongue.
   • 1882, Albert Kellogg, Forest Trees of California, Sacramento: J.D. Young, “The Noble Silver Fir,” p. 34,^[10]

     These tonguey bracts or scaly appendages […] never become shorter than the proper cone scales, or so as to be hid from outside view.

   • 1903, Fred Max, chapter 1, in Soul-Return‎^[11], Boston: E.H. Bacon, page 21:

     […] the brain-aura […] crowns the head after the manner of the tonguey flames of a torch.

   • 2003, Toby Litt, Finding Myself‎^[12], Penguin, published 2004, page 158:

     Fleur leans back against the kitchen table, letting her face be licked by the tonguey vapour of her coffee-cup.

See also

• glossal
• lingual
• tonguely

Noun

tonguey (plural tongueys)

1. (Australia, UK) An act or an instance of kissing that involves the use of one's tongue.

   Synonym: French kiss

   • 1992, Louis Nowra, Così‎^[13], Sydney: Currency Press, published 1994, act 2, scene 5, page 86:

     Give me a kiss. No, open your mouth, I want a tonguey.

   • 2004, Ben Elton, chapter 20, in Past Mortem‎^[14], London: Bantam, page 200:

     He walked her to her house and received one last lingering Christmas tonguey under the mistletoe that hung above the door.