lip service
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: lipservice
Alternative forms
Etymology
First use appears c. 1590, in A Treatise against Witchcraft by Henry Holland. Compare earlier lip-labour.
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
- (idiomatic) Promising but empty talk; words without action or intention.
- The candidate gave lip service to fixing the problems, but it is doubtful that he will do much.
- 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
- Don’t madam me, — I can’t bear none of your lip service. I’m a plain-spoken woman, that’s what I am, and I like other people’s tongues to be as plain as mine.
- 1995, Alanis Morissette (lyrics and music), “Head over Feet”, in Jagged Little Pill:
- Your love is thick, and it swallowed me whole / You're so much braver than I gave you credit for / That's not lip service
- 2020 November 11, John Eligon, Audra D. S. Burch, “Black Voters Helped Deliver Biden a Presidential Victory. Now What?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- “OK, let’s see if he’s really being honest about this,” Ms. Neloms, 42, who is Black, recalled thinking. “My prayer is that it’s not just lip service.”
- (slang, vulgar) Cunnilingus (sometimes also referred to as giving lip).
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:oral sex
- Jack gave Samantha lip service.
Related terms
Translations
Empty talk; words absent of action or intention
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cunnilingus — see cunnilingus
References
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