"civil tongue" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "civil tongues",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "civil tongue (plural civil tongues)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "keep a civil tongue in one's head"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1855, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 3, in The Lances Of Lynwood",
          "text": "[T]here would not have been the least offence had the youth only possessed a civil tongue.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1915, Zane Grey, chapter 4, in The Lone Star Ranger",
          "text": "\"Mister Duane,\" began Bosomer, in low, stinging tones, \"I happen to be Luke Stevens's side-pardner. . . . An' I want the hoss an' them guns,\" he shouted.\n\"You or anybody else can have them, for all I care. I just fetched them in. But the pack is mine,\" replied Duane. \"And say, I befriended your pard. If you can't use a civil tongue you'd better cinch it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Michael Fitzalan, The Gunpowder Plot and Markham, page 30",
          "text": "They sang \"good morrow\" in reply, making sure they addressed him with a civil tongue; they, after all, wanted a tip for their good service.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A polite manner of speaking."
      ],
      "id": "en-civil_tongue-en-noun-HhqFMt2z",
      "links": [
        [
          "polite",
          "polite"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A polite manner of speaking."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-civil tongue.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0c/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "civil tongue"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "keep a civil tongue in one's head"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "civil tongues",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "civil tongue (plural civil tongues)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1855, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 3, in The Lances Of Lynwood",
          "text": "[T]here would not have been the least offence had the youth only possessed a civil tongue.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1915, Zane Grey, chapter 4, in The Lone Star Ranger",
          "text": "\"Mister Duane,\" began Bosomer, in low, stinging tones, \"I happen to be Luke Stevens's side-pardner. . . . An' I want the hoss an' them guns,\" he shouted.\n\"You or anybody else can have them, for all I care. I just fetched them in. But the pack is mine,\" replied Duane. \"And say, I befriended your pard. If you can't use a civil tongue you'd better cinch it.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014, Michael Fitzalan, The Gunpowder Plot and Markham, page 30",
          "text": "They sang \"good morrow\" in reply, making sure they addressed him with a civil tongue; they, after all, wanted a tip for their good service.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A polite manner of speaking."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "polite",
          "polite"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A polite manner of speaking."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-civil tongue.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0c/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/En-au-civil_tongue.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "civil tongue"
}