You licked not your LiPS since you lied last

Insights

Habitual Dishonesty

Emphasizes the quick repetition of lies, suggesting that the speaker is so prone to falsehoods they scarcely pause between them.

Moral Impatience

Conveys frustration or contempt toward someone who lies so frequently that even the briefest interval—symbolized by licking the lips—is too long between deceptions.

Verbal Accountability

Highlights how language and truth are linked to bodily imagery (lips, licking), reinforcing that lying is not just verbal but morally and physically felt.

Speech and Morality Interlinked

The proverb roots moral judgment in physical behavior—equating the rapid succession of lies with a bodily reflex. This aligns with folk beliefs that the body betrays moral truth (e.g., shifty eyes, twitching lips).

Sarcasm as Social Discipline

The phrase is scathingly sarcastic, operating as a form of humorous but sharp social correction—a way to call out dishonesty without direct confrontation.

Oral Imagery and Deception

Lips, as the organ of both pleasure and deceit, are central here: the proverb reminds us that what is pleasurable to say (a convenient lie) may be morally corrosive, and the act of licking evokes both indulgence and cover-up.

Temporal Irony

By referencing the impossibly short time span between lies, the proverb uses temporal exaggeration to underscore the audacity or compulsiveness of deceit.

Rhetorical Devices

Hyperbole

Exaggerates the speed of lying to emphasize how habitual or shameless the falsehood is—no time even to lick the lips between lies.

Sarcasm

The line mocks the speaker under the guise of observation, using irony to convey contempt for habitual dishonesty.

Metonymy

Uses 'lips' as a stand-in for speech, associating physical motion with verbal behavior, and grounding moral judgment in bodily terms.