all mouth and trousers

Alternative forms

• all mouth and no trousers

Etymology

mouth, meaning "talk" rather than action and trousers, presumably at the time of origin a reference to masculinity, either as trousers as a male item of clothing, or a reference to the genitals, being for some reason required in order for effective action to be taken. In the context of the time of origin it was perhaps a somewhat sexist term. The phrase originated in Northern England ^{citation needed}

Adjective

all mouth and trousers (not comparable)

1. (Britain, idiomatic) Superficial, engaging in empty, boastful talk, but not of real substance.

See also

• all hat and no cattle

References

• “All mouth and trousers” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.