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
How to Be a Woman How to Be a Woman How to Be a Woman is a 2011 non-fiction memoir by British writer Caitlin Moran. The book documents Moran's early life (from teens until mid-thirties) including her views on feminism. As of July 2014, it had sold over a million copies. Caitlin Moran wrote "How To Be a Woman" with the goal of making feminism more approachable for every woman by telling stories of her own life's struggles. She wants women to stop seeing feminists as radical man-haters and to start seeing them as advocates for true equality. In her book Moran calls out any