[00:00.10]Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.
[00:16.48]People use their mouths for many things.
[00:21.29]They eat, talk, shout and sing.
[00:25.42]They smile and they kiss.
[00:27.65]In the English language, there are many expressions using the word "mouth."
[00:34.03]But some of them are not so nice.
[00:37.04]For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say "Do not badmouth me!"
[00:46.74]Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person's feelings.
[00:56.69]Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.
[01:02.68]The speaker might say "I really put my foot in my mouth this time."
[01:07.66]If this should happen, the speaker might feel "down in the mouth."
[01:13.93]In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
[01:20.30]Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something.
[01:27.73]The other person might protest "I did not say that.
[01:32.36]Do not put words in my mouth!"
[01:35.17]Information is often spread through "word of mouth."
[01:41.12]This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other.
[01:47.49]"How did you hear about that new movie?" someone might ask.
[01:52.34]"Oh, by ‘word of mouth.'"
[01:54.93]A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece.
[02:03.65]This is an official spokesperson.
[02:06.79]Government-run media could also be called "a mouthpiece."
[02:13.42]Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say.
[02:23.40]When this happens, the friend might say "You took the words right out of my mouth!"
[02:31.57]Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person.
[02:39.29]He might say that experience "left a bad taste in my mouth."
[02:45.58]Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog.
[02:56.08]He might say "I had my heart in my mouth."
[03:00.95]Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family.
[03:10.39]There is an expression for this, too.
[03:14.95]You might say such a person was "born with a silver spoon in his mouth."
[03:21.11]This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives "from hand to mouth."
[03:30.43]This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life --
[03:39.68]like food.
[03:40.96]Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things.
[03:51.89]For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as "a mouthy child."
[04:03.82]The parents might even tell the child to "stop mouthing off."
[04:10.04]But enough of all this talk.
[04:13.23]I have been running my mouth long enough.
[04:18.12]Words and Their Stories, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss.
[04:35.70]I'm Faith Lapidus.