"Can I start again? I got a little tongue-.....," Jack asked his teacher as he stumbled over the introduction of his speech

"Can I start again? I got a little tongue-.....," Jack asked his teacher as he stumbled over the introduction of his speech. (*) bound (*) locked (*) tied (*) strapped


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://english.best/questions/15418,can-i-start-again-i-got-a-little-tongue-___-jack-asked-his-teacher-as-he-stumbled-over-the-introduction-of-his-speech/
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Can I start again? I got a little tongue-…," Jack asked his teacher as he stumbled over the introduction of his speech.

answer: tied

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That’s correct. Do you know what ‘tongue-tied’ means?

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I think it means you’re speechless (unable to speak) because either you’re shocked, surprised or extremely furious at someone.

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That’s right :+1:. Your English is very good indeed.

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Thank you, kind sir!
Correct me if I’m wrong but you could respond to person who is tongue-tied, what? Cat got your tongue?
It’s an idiom/phrase and is said to a person who suddenly just freezes and can’t get a word out of their mouth.

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Well, I wouldn’t use ‘cat got your tongue’ in response to a person who says: ‘Can I start again, I got a little tongue-tied’.

You can use the idiom ‘cat got your tongue?’ with a person you know very well and has a healthy sense of humor when you notice that the person is unusually silent. Please let me know if this makes sense. Many thanks for asking these interesting questions.

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oh, that is interesting! I have been told once when I was in a heated argument and didn’t have a come back and had my mouth wide open in a shock because I wasn’t expecting to hear such a profanity I was told that idiom. Did they use it incorrectly or is that okay to do so?

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In the situation you describe the idiom ‘Cat got your tongue’ because you hadn’t said “Can I start again? I got a little tongue-tied” before that. Please let me know if this makes sense. Thanks

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sorry, you have me totally lost. Can you please clarify it for me? Thanks.

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Let’s say there is a dialogue between two people, Mary and Mike.

If Mary says “Can I start again? I got a little tongue-tied", it’s not very likely that Mike responds with ‘Cat got your tongue’? Please let me know if this makes sense. Thanks.

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oh thank you very much. It makes so much more sense now.

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