mouthful of marbles: meaning & examples

Meanings:

• 1.

  Generalinformalidiomatic
  • Speech that is muffled, slurred, or indistinct, as though the speaker has something in their mouth.

  Examples

  Beta

  • After the dentist’s appointment, my speech sounded like I had a mouthful of marbles because of the numbness.

    Después de la cita con el dentista, mi habla sonaba como si tuviera la boca llena de canicas por la anestesia.

  • He was so nervous during the presentation that he spoke with a mouthful of marbles, making it hard to understand him.

    Estaba tan nervioso durante la presentación que habló con la boca llena de canicas, dificultando entenderlo.

  • Don’t mumble like you have a mouthful of marbles; try to enunciate your words clearly.

    No murmulles como si tuvieras la boca llena de canicas; intenta pronunciar tus palabras claramente.

• 2.

  Generalneutralliteral
  • A literal description of having marbles or a similar object in the mouth, which would cause impaired articulation and muffled sound.

  Examples

  Beta

  • The toddler refused to spit out the marbles, so he literally had a mouthful of marbles.

    El niño se negó a escupir las canicas, así que literalmente tenía la boca llena de canicas.

  • While playing, she accidentally put a mouthful of marbles in her mouth, causing her to speak unclearly.

    Mientras jugaba, accidentalmente puso una boca llena de canicas en su boca, lo que causó que hablara de forma poco clara.

  • The magician's trick involved hiding a mouthful of marbles before producing them suddenly.

    El truco del mago consistía en esconder una boca llena de canicas antes de producirlas de repente.

  • He tried to talk with a mouthful of marbles to imitate the effect of being intoxicated.

    Intentó hablar con la boca llena de canicas para imitar el efecto de estar ebrio.