A "Tongue in Cheek" Look at the Word "Mouth"

Do you have a mouth? Of course you do, just as I have a mouth, your mother and father has a mouth, and everyone you know - has a mouth. Almost every living creature we are familiar with has a mouth of some kind. Even monsters have mouths that are used to devour humans in many horror films. One of the most famous is Audry II in "Little Shop of Horrors" who had an appetite for human blood.... but I digress. The point I am making is the word mouth and its various meanings are used quite often in the human language.

The mouth is normally used for ingesting food into an organic body in order to digest it for nutrients and energy or to vocalize sounds. Even a few plants seem to have a mouth, such as the well-known Venus Fly Trap and the Waterwheel plant, in that both have an opening that attracts prey, snaps shut, kills the prey, and then eats it by dissolving the material in a fluid.

How well most of us can remember giving our parents an impudent or insolent comment, known as a "bunch of mouth" when asked to do a hated chore. You might have been guilty of "lipping off" when being a "smart mouth". How many times have you "opened your mouth" when showing off, only to have it smacked shut? Your parents may have told others they had "four mouths to feed", speaking of you and your siblings. You can even get your "mouth" in trouble. Nevertheless, "mouthing off" appears to be a normal part of growing up for most children (and far too many adults).

Of course, there are other uses for your mouth. As a mother, you might "silently mouth" a request to your husband to keep from waking the baby. You may "crow" about getting a special item you have wanted for a long time or "open your mouth" to boast about something you did better than someone else. On the other hand, you might "run off at the mouth" to an enemy and take a chance on being "busted in the chops". Someone might claim you are "all mouth". A number of folks can talk out of both sides of their mouth to make contradictory or untruthful statements. This is sometimes called speaking with a "forked tongue".

You may brag about something you did or open your mouth to "sing your own praises". At the same time, I have "tripped over my own tongue" as I tried to stammer out a sentence. There have been moments, albeit only a few, where I "dropped my jaw" or "mimed" opening my mouth without ever uttering a word. Even I have had the opportunity to "blow my own horn" over an accomplishment.

Nonetheless, the word mouth (and other body parts) is also used to describe the opening in a tunnel, cavern, or cave. Rivers have a mouth where it ends into a larger body of water, such as another river, lake, sea, estuary, or the ocean. Rivers also have "headwaters". The opening into a harbor or in a vessel into which supplies are loaded or unloaded is called the mouth. Canyons have a mouth and a foot.

Maw means a wide opening, just like a mouth. I know my children had mouths that were as big as any maw. I could tell by the amount of food they were able to consume with their voracious, never-ending hunger. Maw is also used as a theoretical center of places such as the "maw of hell" or the "maw of death".

Attorneys are often said to be "mouth pieces" for their clients. A few are known mostly for "shooting off their mouth". Several folks even "mouth off" when forcibly stating their opinions or objections in public. Most of these are known, overall, as "politicians".

Still, we all know people who babble, bark, blab, blabber, blubber, blurt, cackle, chant, chatter, drone, enthuse, gabble, gibber, gulp, gum, hiss, jabber, mumble, murmur, mutter, palaver, piffle, prattle, rant, rattle on, rave, read, retort, shout, sing, slur, snap, snarl, snivel, spout, tattle, troll, twaddle, whine, whisper, yack, or yap away. A few never seem to "shut their mouths".

Mouth is also the lateral hole of an organ pipe and the lateral blowhole of a flute. Dogs may "mouth" a bird (in the case of bird dogs) or mouth a toy. One musical instrument is known as a "mouth harp". Jars have a mouth, sometimes small and wide-mouth, used for canning. The opening of a gun or cannon where a projectile leaves the ordinance is also called the mouth.

Obviously, the word "mouth" has many uses and meanings. You may even be able to think of more than what I have written here. If so, you may want to "keep your mouth to yourself". Of course, I only meant that "tongue in cheek".