slip of the tongue
A mistake in speech.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“It was just a slip of the tongue — I meant to say 'June'.”
“When she called her new boss by her ex-husband's name, she apologized and said it was a slip of the tongue.”
“In the heated debate, the senator's unfortunate slip of the tongue was clipped and circulated online within minutes.”
The phrase appears in English as a calque of the Latin lapsus linguae, preserving the literal mechanics of the original expression. It functions as a direct translation, substituting the Latin components with their English equivalents to describe a verbal error.
- 01
bite one's tongue
To resist the urge to speak out, especially in order to avoid saying something inappropriate or likely to cause a dispute.
- 02
cat got someone's tongue
Why is someone not saying anything?
- 03
civil tongue
A polite manner of speaking.
- 04
find one's tongue
To speak after being unable to do so or after remaining silent; to find something to say.
- 05
forked tongue
The characteristic of deceptiveness; duplicity; untruthfulness.
- 06
give someone the slip
To evade, escape, or get away from somebody.
- 07
hold one's tongue
To refrain from talking about something.
- 08
keep a civil tongue in one's head
To maintain a polite manner of speaking.
Last updated August 10, 2026