Down in the Mouth
Down in the mouth describes the state of feeling sad, depressed, discouraged or glum. The phrase down in the mouth first appeared in the mid-1600s, and simply refers to the fact that people who are unhappy are usually depicted with a frown, a facial expression that involves a downturn at the corners of the mouth. The phrase is sometimes rendered as down at the mouth. When used as an adjective before a noun, the phrase is hyphenated as in down-in-the-mouth.
