| 释义 |
meal·y-mouthed AHD[mēʹlē-mouYd', -moutht'] D.J.[ˈmiːliːˌmaʊðd, -ˌmaʊθt]K.K.[ˈmiliˌmaʊðd, -ˌmaʊθt]adj.（形容词）- Unwilling to state facts or opinions simply and directly.不坦率的：不愿意简单地、直接地陈述事实和意见的
注释- One does not hear the wordmealy-mouthed today as much as one could, since the unwillingness to state facts or opinions directly seems a perennial condition of leaders and their underlings in all walks of life.It would be singularly appropriate if a man who was noted for not being mealy-mouthed had helped give us this word.The term does perhaps come to us from an expression such as GermanMehl im Maule behalten, "to carry meal in the mouth, that is, not to be direct in speech.”The expression occurs in the writings of Martin Luther, who was willing to speak his mind.In English we find recorded the termsmealmouth (1546) and meal-mouthed (1576) around the same time that we find mealymouthed (around 1572), but onlymealy-mouthed has survived, fortunately for us,as it seems there will always be a need for it.人们听到mealy-mouthed 这个词的次数不如过去那么多了， 因为不愿坦率说出事实和看法似乎已经成了各行各业的领导和下属们的长期不变的状况。如果是一个并不拐弯抹角的人给我们带来这个词那将是再合适不过了。这种说法可能是从德语的Mehl im Maule behalten 而来， 即“嘴里含着肉，也就是说，说话不直接了当”。这种说法出现在很愿意说出自己想法的马丁·路德的文章里。在英语中我们发现mealmouth (1546年）和 meal-mouthed (1576年）记录的时间与发现 mealymouthed （大约1572年）记录的时间差不多， 但是只有mealy-mouthed 流传下来了， 这真是幸运，因为看起来我们一直需要这个词
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