Tongue-in-cheek
515346
225413999
2008-07-13T15:39:58Z
Kudpung
2512606
format
'''Tongue-in-cheek''' is a term used to refer to humour in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its lack of seriousness is subtle. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines it as "Ironic, slyly humorous; not meant to be taken seriously".
Tongue-in-cheek fiction seems to abide by the conventions of an established serious [[genre]], but gently pokes fun at some aspects of that genre, while still relying on its conventions. Examples of tongue-in-cheek films are ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy]]'', ''[[Shaun_of_the_Dead|Shaun of the Dead]]'', ''[[Demolition Man (film)|Demolition Man]]'', ''[[True Lies]]'', or ''[[Hot Fuzz]]''. Note that these films are still faithful to their genre (slasher, musical, zombie, action, spy, and police-thriller respectively) and are not out-and-out parodies such as ''[[Airplane!]]'' or ''[[Scary Movie]]''.
Tongue-in-cheek is also a growing form of humor amongst [[Generation X|generation X]]-ers, i.e. people in their late 20's. This form of speech will be found in their ever day communications with others. An example of this tongue-in-cheek humor display would perhaps be the referencing of ones self by using only their first initial and adding "man" to the end, i.e. Evan would refer to himself as "E-man." This self-referencing is not meant to be taken seriously but is delivered in a subtle even serious way, leading those around to believe that the person still feels that this is a modern and perhaps even "hip" way to introduce and refer to himself/herself when speaking with others.
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'''s earliest recorded use of the term was in a 1933 when a ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' review described ''[[Shooting the Bull]]'' as "a tongue-in-the-cheek march through newspaperdom". It appeared in ''[[Webster's Dictionary]]'' the following year.
One of the earliest records of the expression is in ''The Fair Maid of Perth'', by [[Sir Walter Scott]] in 1828
"The fellow who gave this all-hail thrust his '''tongue in his cheek''' to some scapegraces like himself."
Its use was recorded again in 1845 by [[Richard Harris Barham]], the English novelist and poet in ''The Ingoldsby Legends'':
''He fell to admiring his friend's English watch.''
''He examined the face,''
''And the back of the case,''
''And the young Lady's portrait there, done on enamel, he''
''Saw by the likeness was one of the family;''
''Cried 'Superbe! Magnifique! (With his tongue in his cheek)''
''Then he open'd the case, just to take a peep in it, and''
''Seized the occasion to pop back the minute hand.''
==References==
{{cite book
| author = Mary Morris
| title = Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| year = 1988
| id = ISBN 0-06-015862-X
}}
{{cite book
| title = The Ingoldsby Legends or Mirth and Marvels
| author = The Rev. Richard H. Barham
| year = 1921
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
}}
[[Category:Humor]][[Category:English idioms]]
[[it:Tongue-in-cheek]]