Jump to content

Loose lips sink ships: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
AnomieBOT (talk | contribs)
Bots
6,445,508 edits
Rescuing orphaned refs ("ue" from rev 870224030)
→‎top: quote RS
Line 3: Line 3:
'''Loose lips sink ships''' is an [[American English]] [[idiom]] meaning "beware of unguarded talk". The phrase originated on propaganda posters during [[World War II]].<ref name="pp">{{cite web |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/237250.html |title=Loose lips sink ships |author= |date= |work=The Phrase Finder |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> The phrase was created by the [[War Advertising Council]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=127 |title=Security of War Information - Loose Lips Sink Ships (1942-1945) |author= |date= |work=Ad Council |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> and used on posters by the [[United States Office of War Information]].<ref name="pp"/>
'''Loose lips sink ships''' is an [[American English]] [[idiom]] meaning "beware of unguarded talk". The phrase originated on propaganda posters during [[World War II]].<ref name="pp">{{cite web |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/237250.html |title=Loose lips sink ships |author= |date= |work=The Phrase Finder |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> The phrase was created by the [[War Advertising Council]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=127 |title=Security of War Information - Loose Lips Sink Ships (1942-1945) |author= |date= |work=Ad Council |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> and used on posters by the [[United States Office of War Information]].<ref name="pp"/>


This type of poster was part of a general campaign of [[American propaganda during World War II]] to advise servicemen and other citizens to avoid careless talk that might undermine the war effort. Propaganda experts at the time and historians since have argued the main goal was to frighten people into not spreading rumors --or truths--containing bad news that might hurt morale or create tension between groups of Americans. Historian D'Ann Campbell argues that the purpose of the wartime posters, propaganda, and censorship of soldiers' letters was not to foil spies but, "to clamp as tight a lid as possible on rumors that might lead to discouragement, frustration, strikes, or anything that would cut back military production."<ref>D'Ann Campbell, Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (1984) p 71.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Chip Heath|author2=Dan Heath|title=Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yfp79AAohiMC&pg=PA281|year=2007|publisher=Random House |page=281}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Douglas Smith|author2=Richard J. Jensen|title=World War II on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iROGEMLAnxMC&pg=PA95|year=2003|publisher=Scholarly Resources|page=95}}</ref>
This type of poster was part of a general campaign of [[American propaganda during World War II]] to advise servicemen and other citizens to avoid careless talk that might undermine the war effort. The FBI was in charge of dealing with enemy spies, and it rounded up the key agents in June 1941, so that the nation "entered the war with confidence that there was no major German espionage network hidden in U.S. society."<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert S. Mueller|author2=John J. Miller|author3=Michael P. Kortan|title=The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IeeTPqjwnAEC&pg=PA44|year=2008|publisher=Government Printing Office|page=44}}</ref> From the White House perspective, the FBI had succeeded in virtually ending the German espionage threat. Historian [[Joseph E. Persico]] says it "practically shut down German espionage in the United States overnight."<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph E. Persico|title=Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCono4jBchIC&pg=PA115|year=2002|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-76126-3|page=115}}</ref> Propaganda experts at the time and historians since have argued the main goal was to frighten people into not spreading rumors --or truths--containing bad news that might hurt morale or create tension between groups of Americans. Historian D'Ann Campbell argues that the purpose of the wartime posters, propaganda, and censorship of soldiers' letters was not to foil spies but, "to clamp as tight a lid as possible on rumors that might lead to discouragement, frustration, strikes, or anything that would cut back military production."<ref>D'Ann Campbell, Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (1984) p 71.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Chip Heath|author2=Dan Heath|title=Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yfp79AAohiMC&pg=PA281|year=2007|publisher=Random House |page=281}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Douglas Smith|author2=Richard J. Jensen|title=World War II on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iROGEMLAnxMC&pg=PA95|year=2003|publisher=Scholarly Resources|page=95}}</ref>
The British equivalent used "[[Careless Talk Costs Lives (propaganda)|Careless Talk Costs Lives]]", and variations on the phrase "Keep [[Mum's the word|mum]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/prop/home_front/INF3_0229.htm |title="Keep mum – she's not so dumb" - Charcoal, gouache, ink & pastel on board |author= |date= |work=British National Archives |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> while in neutral Sweden the State Information Board promoted the wordplay "[[en svensk tiger]]" (the Swedish word "tiger" means both "tiger" and "keeping silent"), and Germany used "Schäm Dich, Schwätzer!" ({{lang-en|"Shame on you, blabbermouth!"}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/en/items/NIOD01xxCOLONxx48666 |title=Schäm Dich, Schwätzer! Feind hört mit-Schweigen ist... |work=The Memory of the Netherlands |publisher=Koninklijke Bibliotheek |accessdate=March 24, 2014}}{{link language|nl}}</ref>
The British equivalent used "[[Careless Talk Costs Lives (propaganda)|Careless Talk Costs Lives]]", and variations on the phrase "Keep [[Mum's the word|mum]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/prop/home_front/INF3_0229.htm |title="Keep mum – she's not so dumb" - Charcoal, gouache, ink & pastel on board |author= |date= |work=British National Archives |accessdate=November 11, 2010}}</ref> while in neutral Sweden the State Information Board promoted the wordplay "[[en svensk tiger]]" (the Swedish word "tiger" means both "tiger" and "keeping silent"), and Germany used "Schäm Dich, Schwätzer!" ({{lang-en|"Shame on you, blabbermouth!"}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/en/items/NIOD01xxCOLONxx48666 |title=Schäm Dich, Schwätzer! Feind hört mit-Schweigen ist... |work=The Memory of the Netherlands |publisher=Koninklijke Bibliotheek |accessdate=March 24, 2014}}{{link language|nl}}</ref>


Revision as of 08:42, 25 November 2018

This article is about the English idiom. For other uses, see Loose lips sink ships (disambiguation).
World War II poster by Seymour R. Goff. This was the first poster to use some variation the phrase. It was published by the Seagram Distillers Corporation for posting in bars.[1][2]

Loose lips sink ships is an American English idiom meaning "beware of unguarded talk". The phrase originated on propaganda posters during World War II.[3] The phrase was created by the War Advertising Council[4] and used on posters by the United States Office of War Information.[3]

This type of poster was part of a general campaign of American propaganda during World War II to advise servicemen and other citizens to avoid careless talk that might undermine the war effort. The FBI was in charge of dealing with enemy spies, and it rounded up the key agents in June 1941, so that the nation "entered the war with confidence that there was no major German espionage network hidden in U.S. society."[5] From the White House perspective, the FBI had succeeded in virtually ending the German espionage threat. Historian Joseph E. Persico says it "practically shut down German espionage in the United States overnight."[6] Propaganda experts at the time and historians since have argued the main goal was to frighten people into not spreading rumors --or truths--containing bad news that might hurt morale or create tension between groups of Americans. Historian D'Ann Campbell argues that the purpose of the wartime posters, propaganda, and censorship of soldiers' letters was not to foil spies but, "to clamp as tight a lid as possible on rumors that might lead to discouragement, frustration, strikes, or anything that would cut back military production."[7][8][9] The British equivalent used "Careless Talk Costs Lives", and variations on the phrase "Keep mum",[10] while in neutral Sweden the State Information Board promoted the wordplay "en svensk tiger" (the Swedish word "tiger" means both "tiger" and "keeping silent"), and Germany used "Schäm Dich, Schwätzer!" (English: "Shame on you, blabbermouth!").[11]

There were many similar such slogans, but "Loose lips sink ships" remained in the American idiom for the remainder of the century and into the next, usually as an admonition to avoid careless talk in general.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "World War II 'Loose Lips' Poster (product description)". Olive Drav. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Hadley Digital Archive "Loose Lips Might Sink Ships"". Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Loose lips sink ships". The Phrase Finder. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  4. ^ "Security of War Information - Loose Lips Sink Ships (1942-1945)". Ad Council. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  5. ^ Robert S. Mueller; John J. Miller; Michael P. Kortan (2008). The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008. Government Printing Office. p. 44.
  6. ^ Joseph E. Persico (2002). Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage. Random House. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-375-76126-3.
  7. ^ D'Ann Campbell, Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (1984) p 71.
  8. ^ Chip Heath; Dan Heath (2007). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Random House. p. 281.
  9. ^ J. Douglas Smith; Richard J. Jensen (2003). World War II on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites. Scholarly Resources. p. 95.
  10. ^ ""Keep mum – she's not so dumb" - Charcoal, gouache, ink & pastel on board". British National Archives. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  11. ^ "Schäm Dich, Schwätzer! Feind hört mit-Schweigen ist..." The Memory of the Netherlands. Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Retrieved March 24, 2014.Template:Link language
  12. ^ "Idiom: Loose lips sink ships". Using English. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  13. ^ "Loose lips sink ships". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  14. ^ "Loose lips sink ships – Anti Espionage Posters from WWII". www.successfullearningcommunities.com. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Loose_lips_sink_ships&oldid=870511760"