Bite my lip

[Cynthia91]

Hello,


'As he was talking about her, I was biting my lip'

What does 'bite my lip' mean?


Thanks a lot

[Coffa]

The narrator is saying that he wanted to comment, but deliberately refrained from doing so. The intended image is that he wanted to speak, but as he was about to do so, he bit down on his lip to prevent the words from coming out. This is a common idiom.

[Svetlana9]

I'm a little confused about the idiom. Doesn't it sometime mean 'I stopped myself from laughing'


When is it said?


Thanks

[Coffa]

Hi Svetlana,

No, the meaning of the idiom is never 'I stopped myself from laughing'. However, it is often true that when one wants to say something inappropriate, it is because we want to respond to a ridiculous statement.

For example, I was once asked in a small-town restaurant in Texas, USA where Toronto was (I was wearing a 'Hard-Rock Cafe Toronto' T-shirt at the time). I found it amusing that an American would not know where Toronto was, so I had to 'bite my lip' when I replied in order not to offend the girl. In a sense, I did have to stop myself laughing, but the real meaning was that I had to consider my reply.

I hope this helps.

[Svetlana9]

That's very interesting!

Thanks a lot, Coffa