Etymology

mealy-mouthed

Today it means: Prone to speaking evasively, indirectly, or duplicitously; not forthright. Full definition →

German Mehl im Maule behalten
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The story

  1. German · derived fromMehl im Maule behalten
  2. English todaymealy-mouthed

Possibly from German Mehl im Maule behalten, via Martin Luther

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.