The lies queued up behind his teeth
Posted by RRC on February 15, 2008 at 22:05:
In Reply to: The lies queued up behind his teeth posted by Smokey Stover on February 15, 2008 at 20:28:
: : : : Where did the following phrase originate "the lies queued up behind his teeth"?
: : : Is it a "phrase", as such, rather than a one-off remark? I can get no Google hits for it at all.(VSD)
: : Wouldn't it be a variation of "lying through his teeth" or:
: : TO LIE IN ONE'S TEETH - "To accuse a person of lying in his teeth is the strongest of accusations, implying that the person is such a double-dyed liar as to be unfamiliar with truth. It is very old traceable to the early 1300s, as in 'The romances of Sir Guy of Warwick,' 'Thou liest amidward and therefore have though maugreth (shown ill will).'"
: : From "Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions" (1948, Harper & Row) by Charles Earle Funk.
: "The lies queued up behind his teeth": this sounds like the work of a sophisticated author who thinks his readers will know that the queue is so that whoever is referred to by "his" can lie through his teeth serially.
: SS
... or anyone who speaks British English since they use queue instead of line most of the time.