A woman's tongue wags like a lamb's tail.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

The saying compares a woman’s speech to a lamb’s moving tail, mocking it as continual or trivial chatter. It is a sexist dismissal of speech, not an assessment of what anyone actually says.

What the words are saying

The tail’s wagging supplies a repetitive movement to stand for the tongue’s activity. The comparison makes women’s speech look automatic and inconsequential rather than considering its content. Its force is ridicule, and the gendered subject directs that ridicule at women as a group. A responsible interpretation should name the dismissal instead of converting the line into neutral advice to speak less. Any speaker can dominate a conversation or offer something important; those possibilities have to be assessed from the actual exchange. Attend to what is said, who has room to speak and whether interruptions are distributed fairly.

Everyday example

A meeting chair stops a participant using the saying to dismiss a woman’s report and asks the group to address her observations about the missing catalogue records.

When to use it

Use it as an example of ridicule that treats women’s speech as noise rather than engaging with its content.

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Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.