--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The English language on her tongue became…" description: "\"The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen, without her eyes changing expression in the least.\" — Pat Conroy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg" --- # The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen… ![“The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen, without her eyes changing expression in the least.” quote by Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg) > “The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen, without her eyes changing expression in the least.” [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Her speech masks true intent, creating a deceptive veil while she remains expressionless. **In simple terms:** Words hide truth behind a calm face. Key Takeaway Read beyond words to understand motives. Themes deception communication identity language literature Mood mysterious thoughtful Type analytical interpretive When to use this quote - interpersonal negotiation - reading body language - literary analysis Key Concepts psychology narrative masking Questions to Reflect On - How do you detect hidden meanings? - When does silence speak louder than words? A Different Perspective May misinterpret subtle cues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [“The English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-devlin/the-english-language-is-the-tongue-now-current-in-england-and-her/) [Joseph Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-devlin/) > [“This must be the taste of Language— the tongue mapped by many colors, parsed by the vowels of memory, the roof of the mouth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-m-evasco/this-must-be-the-taste-of-language-the-tongue-mapped-by-many-colors/) [Marjorie M. Evasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-m-evasco/) > [My eyes change color from dark brown to dark blue and once light blue might be cool and all however try dealing with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrcountry/my-eyes-change-color-from-dark-brown-to-dark-blue-and-once-light-blue/) MrCountry > [He leaned back a little, not taking his arm from around me, but looking into my eyes. “You’re changing, Zoey. And I’m not sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-leaned-back-a-little-not-taking-his-arm-from-around-me-but-looking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I hide myself behind, a cloud of smoke; the smoke screen varies, dependent on the variable. The variable consists of: stress, anguish, boredom, madness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-sturgill/i-hide-myself-behind-a-cloud-of-smoke-the-smoke-screen-varies/) Emily Sturgill > [I don't want to smoke on screen, as I will be sending a wrong message to my fans, and I appeal to my costars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahesh-babu/i-don-t-want-to-smoke-on-screen-as-i-will-be-sending-a-wrong-message/) [Mahesh Babu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahesh-babu/) > [Before something great happens, everything falls apart. Just hold on long enough to get through the smoke screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-sweat/before-something-great-happens-everything-falls-apart-just-hold-on/) [Keith Sweat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-sweat/) > [Scrape the grey sky clean. Realize every grey cloud is a smoke screen to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-koyczan/scrape-the-grey-sky-clean-realize-every-grey-cloud-is-a-smoke-screen/) [Shane Koyczan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-koyczan/) > [The only thing I have behind this smoke screen is more smoke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/higher-grounds/the-only-thing-i-have-behind-this-smoke-screen-is-more-smoke/) [Higher Grounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/higher-grounds/) > [“friendship is a smoke screen. The people you think are solid turn out to be mirrors and light; and then you look down and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/friendship-is-a-smoke-screen-the-people-you-think-are-solid-turn-out/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“I had declared in public my desire to be a writer ... I wanted to develop a curiosity that was oceanic and insatiable as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-had-declared-in-public-my-desire-to-be-a-writer-i-wanted-to-develop/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out. I have read like a man on fire my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-world-of-literature-has-everything-in-it-and-it-refuses-to-leave/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [I changed it. I had to. Do you know why?" She studied him, her eyes grave. "Because that was then and this is now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-changed-it-i-had-to-do-you-know-why-she-studied-him-her-eyes-grave/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Keep hoping to see the light in her eyes. Even knowing it'll mean she's saying good-bye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/keep-hoping-to-see-the-light-in-her-eyes-even-knowing-it-ll-mean-she/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [You could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-could-sometimes-see-her-twelfth-year-in-her-cheeks-or-her-ninth/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## More by Pat Conroy > [A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/a-recipe-is-a-story-that-ends-with-a-good-meal/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Except for memory, time would have no meaning at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/except-for-memory-time-would-have-no-meaning-at-all/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [It's an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-s-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live-inside/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“my folks wouldn't read a book if you put a gun to their dicks. but they read people all day long and always get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-folks-wouldn-t-read-a-book-if-you-put-a-gun-to-their-dicks-but/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Cameras are a lifesaver for very shy people who have nowhere else to hide. Behind a lens they can disguise the fact that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/cameras-are-a-lifesaver-for-very-shy-people-who-have-nowhere-else-to/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Carolina beach music," Dupree said, coming up on the porch. "The holiest sound on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/carolina-beach-music-dupree-said-coming-up-on-the-porch-the-holiest/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“My memory often seems like a city of exiled poets afire with the astonishment of language, each believing in the integrity of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-memory-often-seems-like-a-city-of-exiled-poets-afire-with-the/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“We began our life together at a moment of natural self-pity and defeat that left an inimitable impression on both of us. The rejection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/we-began-our-life-together-at-a-moment-of-natural-self-pity-and/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I always liked your piety, Jack.” “I’m a lot cuter than the women of your generation,” Betsy said, playing up to Capers and Mike.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-always-liked-your-piety-jack-i-m-a-lot-cuter-than-the-women-of-your/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“From the beginning I've searched out those writers unafraid to stir up the emotions, who entrust me with their darkest passions, their most indestructible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/from-the-beginning-i-ve-searched-out-those-writers-unafraid-to-stir/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“My mother's voice and my father's fists are two bookends of my childhood, and they form the basis of my art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-mother-s-voice-and-my-father-s-fists-are-two-bookends-of-my/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“Over the years, my church gave me passage into a menagerie of exotic words unknown in the South: "introit," "offertory," "liturgy," "movable feast," "the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/over-the-years-my-church-gave-me-passage-into-a-menagerie-of-exotic/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I have built a city from the books I've read. A good book sings a a timeless music that is heard in the choir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-have-built-a-city-from-the-books-i-ve-read-a-good-book-sings-a-a/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“Time moves funny and it's hard to pin down. Occasionally, time offers you a hundred opportunities to do the right thing. Sometimes, it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/time-moves-funny-and-it-s-hard-to-pin-down-occasionally-time-offers/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“I take it as an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-take-it-as-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) [Explore all 371 Pat Conroy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) ## More English language quotes > [“Fine’s a funny word, don’t you think? I don’t think there’s another like it in the English language that says so much while actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-chase/fine-s-a-funny-word-don-t-you-think-i-don-t-think-there-s-another/) [Emma Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-chase/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/) [S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/) > [“The first phase of modernism, which so far as the English language goes we associate with Pound and Yeats, Wyndham Lewis and Eliot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-first-phase-of-modernism-which-so-far-as-the-english-language/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [These men of many nations must be taught American ways, the English language, and the right way to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/these-men-of-many-nations-must-be-taught-american-ways-the-english/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [“Nevertheless . . was a word, certainly, but much more than a word, it was a concept. "Nevertheless" was what you said when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brunonia-barry/nevertheless-was-a-word-certainly-but-much-more-than-a-word-it-was-a/) [Brunonia Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brunonia-barry/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Hear me now or regret it later: Everything you write must be read aloud. Once all the context items are in place, this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiro-adachi/hear-me-now-or-regret-it-later-everything-you-write-must-be-read/) Jiro Adachi > [It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the federal government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-was-ronald-reagan-who-used-to-say-that-the-10-most-frightening/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [A pronoun, too, will aptly reflect the number of its antecedent: "they" does not refer to one person, no matter how many personalities she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-elizabeth-gordon/a-pronoun-too-will-aptly-reflect-the-number-of-its-antecedent-they/) [Karen Elizabeth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-elizabeth-gordon/) > [The collectors of revenue and the policeman are the only symbols by which millions in India's villages know British rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-collectors-of-revenue-and-the-policeman-are-the-only-symbols-by/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Nothing was worse than a bovine with a 150 IQ trying to wrap its stunned mollusk tongue around the finely tuned syllables of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-anderson/nothing-was-worse-than-a-bovine-with-a-150-iq-trying-to-wrap-its/) Gary Anderson > [English literature is a glorious inheritance which is open to all - there are no barriers, no coupons, and no restrictions. In the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/english-literature-is-a-glorious-inheritance-which-is-open-to-all/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [My God! The English language is a form of communication! Conversation isn't just crossfire where you shoot and get shot at! Where you've got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/my-god-the-english-language-is-a-form-of-communication-conversation/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [“ 'Hubba-Hubba' never slips out," Zeke said. "You selected those words with deliberate intent, and I question your commitment to the respectable use of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-beth-durst/hubba-hubba-never-slips-out-zeke-said-you-selected-those-words-with/) [Sarah Beth Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-beth-durst/) > [Soundbite and slogan, strapline and headline, at every turn we meet hyperbole. The soaring inflation of the English language is more urgently in need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-nunn/soundbite-and-slogan-strapline-and-headline-at-every-turn-we-meet/) [Trevor Nunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-nunn/) [Browse all 686 English language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen, without her eyes changing expression in the least.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pat Conroy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-english-language-on-her-tongue-became-a-smoke-screen-without-her/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "English language" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-english-language-on-her-tongue-became-a-smoke-screen-without-her/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/520/pat-conroy-768_english-language_the-english-language-on-her-tongue-becam_2817535.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The English language on her tongue became a smoke-screen, without her eyes changing expression in the least.” — Pat Conroy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pat Conroy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The English language on her tongue...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-english-language-on-her-tongue-became-a-smoke-screen-without-her/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-english-language-on-her-tongue-became-a-smoke-screen-without-her/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```