Swallow the frog in one's throat
What does this mean? The speaker isn't French and wasn't eating the frog...Thank you all of you! I didn't know that was an idiom. Its literal meaning made me cringe... Let me tell you the situation, the speaker was talking about his French boss so I thought he used a simile - i.e. the frog = his boss.

Question

Swallow the frog in one's throat
What does this mean? The speaker isn't French and wasn't eating the frog...Thank you all of you! I didn't know that was an idiom. Its literal meaning made me cringe... Let me tell you the situation, the speaker was talking about his French boss so I thought he used a simile - i.e. the frog = his boss.

Answer

It's a play on an idiom.  :)

To 'have a frog in your throat' means you're so nervous you can't speak... only croak!  You usually get this feeling when the other person is very important, or is someone you're infatuated with.

So to overcome this feeling, you "swallow" whatever is in your throat - even if it is a "frog".

A similar idiom to "frog in your throat" is "cat got your tongue".

PS. Look for "Funny Little Frog" by Belle and Sebastian, it's a great song. ;)

Answer

"to swallow the frog" means to do something unpleasant. To overcome your own inner drag. To do a task that is feared or avoided.

After you have done this you will feel better.

(Caution! We don't talk about swallowing real frogs...)
(Or about French. French don't eat frogs every day. Some have never done so.)

Answer

it means the person temporarily loses his/her voice or has a hoarse voice

Verpassen Sie nicht die Gelegenheit, bequem von zu Hause aus eine Sprache zu lernen. Stöbern Sie in unserer Auswahl an erfahrenen Sprachlehrern und melden Sie sich jetzt zu Ihrer ersten Unterrichtsstunde an!