speak with a forked tongue

• Possibly from the split tongue of a snake.

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speak with a forked tongue (third-person singular simple present speaks with a forked tongue, present participle speaking with a forked tongue, simple past spoke with a forked tongue, past participle spoken with a forked tongue)

1. (idiomatic) To speak deceptively; to be duplicitous or untruthful.
   • 2008 March 26, “Let a real "probe" begin”, in Sandusky Register online, retrieved 26 March 2008:

     He's spoken with a forked tongue to reporters, and his explanations for launching a probe don't pass the plausibility and credibility tests.

• out of both sides of one's mouth