Tongue-in-cheek phrase appears in 1828 in "The Fair Maid of Perth" by Sir Walter Scott: It's not clear how Scott intended readers to understand the phrase. The more modern ironic sense appears in the 1842 poem "The Ingoldsby Legends" by the English clergyman Richard Barham, in which a Frenchman inspects a watch and cries: The ironic usage originates with the idea of suppressed mirth—biting one's tongue to prevent an outburst of laughter. Tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a mock serious manner. The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern
Women in Mexico northern Mexican region of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a border city across the Rio Grande from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. As of February 2005, the number of murdered women in Ciudad Juarez since 1993 is estimated to be more than 370. Even as late as the 1960s, the use of contraceptives was prohibited by civil law, but there were private clinics where elite women could access care. Surging birthrates in Mexico in the 1960s and 70s became a political issue, particularly as agriculture was less productive and Mexico was no longer self-sufficient in food. As Mexico became more