▪ I. talk, n.
(tɔːk)
Forms: see the vb.
[f. talk v.]
The action or practice of talking.
I. 1. a. Speech, discourse; esp. the familiar oral intercourse of two or more persons; conversation (of a familiar kind).
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 90 Into sic talk fell thay Quhill thay war neir hame. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xvii. 19 The talke betweene them was for this time not very long. 1697 Dryden Virg., Ess. Georg. (1721) I. 205 Nothing which is a Phrase or Saying in common Talk, shou'd be admitted into a serious Poem. 1728 Ramsay Bonnie Chirsty v, Time was too precious now for tauk. 1783 Johnson in Boswell (1816) IV. 202 We had talk enough, but no conversation; there was nothing discussed. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. 1, I do not, however, love good talk the less for these defects of mine. |
b. With a and pl. An instance of this; a conversation.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke ix. 88 Their thoughtes and their priuie talkes behynd his backe wer not hydden..to hym. 1566 Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 268 What speeches and talks be like to rise in the realm. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. i. ii. 3 It is not enough to be full of talks. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. x. (1894) 250, I had many talks with him on the hills. Mod. I had a long talk with him on the matter. |
c. An informal lecture or address; spec. = radio talk s.v. radio n. 5 b.
| 1859 A. J. Munby Diary 2 May in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 32 Went to the W. M. College to hear Ruskin's ‘talk’ about Switzerland... His lecture was historical & geographical chiefly—without book, he standing before the fire. 1900 S. Hale Let. 25 Mar. (1919) x. 360 She is giving three ‘talks’ here in Syracuse. 1923 Radio Times 28 Sept. 9/3, 8.45.—A Short Talk by the Rev. W. A. Studdert-Kennedy. 1942 W. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 58 He had..given the first in what was intended to be a series of talks for the B.B.C. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 273 A ‘talk’ is a programme or programme segment which consists of one person talking at the microphone, usually from a script. 1977 Rep. Comm. Future of Broadcasting (Cmnd. 6753) ii. 12 Radio 3 continued to broadcast some specialised drama, poetry and talks in the evenings. |
d. pl. Applied attrib. to a department of the B.B.C. concerned with the production of radio talks; also to its officials, programmes, etc., and ellipt., the Talks department (with initial capital as a title).
| 1927 B.B.C. Handbk. 1928 124/1 The Talks Department is responsible for the news service, the S.O.S. service,..Government department talks, and all the sporting, humorous, travel, literary, and general talks. Ibid. 125/2 We have evidence..of an increasing demand for the Talks programme and the Talks pamphlet. 1933 J. Reith Diary 5 May (1975) ii. 159 He might have done as a talks director.., but not for the big job. 1938 Times 5 Feb. 10/3 Two talks studios, music library, listening hall, [etc.]. 1940 R. S. Lambert Ariel ii. 49 After the ‘hiving off’ of Talks, Adult Education and even School Broadcasts, he was left with.. Religion and the Children's Hour. 1942 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 16 Oct. in Coll. Essays (1968) II. 246 Yours sincerely, (Geo. Orwell) Talks Producer Indian Section. 1954 W. K. Hancock Country & Calling vii. 189 She became a talks producer on the Overseas Service of the B.B.C. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio i. 31 Talks studio tables often have perforated, i.e. acoustically transparent, surfaces. 1978 F. Maclean Take Nine Spies vii. 228 Guy Burgess..was appointed to the Talks Department of the BBC. 1980 P. Fitzgerald Human Voices ii. 35 No-one could have any [brandy]—a disappointment to everybody except Talks, whose allocation..had already run out. |
2. a. A more or less formal or public oral interchange of views, opinions, or propositions; a conference. Also spec. in pl., formal discussions, as between representatives of different countries, or between both sides in an industrial dispute; talks about talks: preliminary discussions held before entering into formal negotiations. b. A palaver, a pow-wow, as with American Indians; also a verbal message to or from such people.
| 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. (1551) 88 At the lattre they came to talkes and to nyghte metynges. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 229 Themperoure had appoynted a talke of learned men at Regenspurge. Ibid. 441 b, Assaied by talcke and conference of learned men. 1760 St. Papers in Ann. Reg. 231/1 He [Amer. Indian] told the governor he would give his talk the next day; he said he had come with a good talk. 1768 Chron. ibid. 89/1 Captain Paterson had sent a talk to the great island, to disclaim the murders, and to pacify the Indians. 1791 W. Bartram Carolina 210 The talks (or messages between the Indians and white people) were perfectly peaceable and friendly... Bad talks from the Nation is always a very serious affair. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 114 Indians generally are very lofty, rhetorical, and figurative in their language at all great talks, and high ceremonials. 1952 Ann. Reg. 1951 202 The talks broke down on 21 June when it became clear that no agreement was possible. 1971 H. Wilson Labour Govt. vi. 78 This time they were more wary, and after some weeks were ready, more for appearances' sake it seemed, to enter into ‘talks about talks’. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 590 Greek and Turkish officials began talks in London to try to settle their dispute over rights in the Aegean. |
3. Mention (of a subject); making of statements and remarks; rumour; gossip; an instance of this.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 370 b, In the Emperors court was..no talcke of it, and made as they knew not therof. 1577 F. de L'isle's Legendarie A viij b, His brother..who, as the talke went, was sore ouerlayed with Anabaptistes. 1677 Wood Life Apr. (O.H.S.) II. 372 Easter Week, great talk of a comet appearing in England. a 1768 Abp. Secker Serm., Tit. ii. 6 (1770) III. iii. 68 It will not raise so early or so great a Talk about you. 1866 Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xlviii, That would make a talk. 1887 Goldw. Smith in Contemp. Rev. July 3 A High Commissioner..has been sent to England, and there is talk of sending another to Washington. |
4. The subject, theme, or occasion of topical conversation, esp. of current gossip or rumour. Also talk of the town = town-talk.
| 1624 J. Chamberlain Let. 5 June (1939) II. 561 The disgrace that would follow in beeing made fabula vulgi and the talke of the towne. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love iv. v, Live to be the talk Of the conduit and the bakehouse. 1703 Congreve Tears Amaryllis 107 Wert thou not..The Joy of Sight, the Talk of ev'ry Tongue? 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 325 Just when these letters were the talk of all London. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xliii. 6 Thou the beauty, the talk of all the province? 1912 J. N. McIlwraith Diana of Quebec xiv. 205 But it would be the talk of the town within twenty-four hours, should even one person chance to see me in pursuit. 1983 N.Y. Times 4 Sept. vi. 18/2 The talk of the town this summer, the advertisement was more a lecture than a letter. |
II. 5. a. Utterance of words, speaking (to others), speech; = talking vbl. n.; also, contemptuously, empty words, verbiage.
big talk, tall talk, speaking in a boastful or exaggerated style; see also small talk.
| 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. 19 As the man is, so is his talke. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 363 b, Seldie had the talk, and..propoundeth questions. 1651–7 T. Barker Art of Angling (1820) 6 That is but talk. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxx, But these were mere by-gone days and talk. 1858 Lytton What will he do i. iii, It is I who have all the talk now. 1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career x. 173 He sort o' stands round, and spreads, and lets off all the big talk he hears. 1869 [see tall a. 8 b]. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. xiii. (1894) 308 Tall talk is luckily an object of suspicion to Englishmen. 1895 Pall Mall G. 8 Oct. 1/3 There is nothing like big talk to draw contributions from a credulous peasantry. |
b. Applied to writing of the nature of familiar or loose speech.
| 1552 R. Ascham in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 13 Purposing elsewhan to troble yow with the taulk of longer lettres. 1884 Chr. Commonwealth 14 Feb. 416/1 Columns of wild, inflammatory, and dangerous talk are appearing in most of our newspapers. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. i. 1 This second volume must, I fear, be less pleasing... The talk must be less of other persons, and more of myself. |
c. fig.
| 1868 Hawthorne Amer. Note-Bks. II. 218 With so vivid a talk of countenance that it was precisely as if she had spoken. 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes (1886) 130 The indescribable quiet talk of the runnel over the stones. |
6. Ordinary manner of speech; way of speaking; native language or dialect; lingo.
| a 1788 T. Ritson in Mrs. Wheeler Cumbld. Dial. (1821) App. 2 Yan cudnt tell thare toke be geese. 1890 Jrnl. Anthrop. Instit. Feb. 396 [If they do not] speak the same language..the man stays in his own island, and the woman learns his ‘talk’. |
7. Comb.: † talk-film temporary = talkie; talk-master U.S. colloq., one who hosts a talk show on radio or television (cf. quiz-master (b) s.v. quiz n.2 2 b); talk shop colloq. = talking shop s.v. talking vbl. n. b; talk show chiefly U.S., a television programme in which guests are interviewed by the host or ‘talk-master’; a television discussion or ‘chat’ show; also (more rarely), a similar programme on radio; † talk-stuff, matter for conversation.
| 1929 Morning Post 24 May 12/7 He had been booked..for a talk-film on his voice alone. 1932 Oxford Times 23 Sept. 22/5 After a good deal of experimenting I have come to the conclusion that{ddd}the best needles to use with a pick-up are those designed for talk-film operation—‘talkie’ needles. 1975 Publishers Weekly 1 Dec. 60/2 Tom Westbrook is the master of radio talkmasters. |
| 1958 Times 12 Aug. 7/7 Many Doubting Thomases who regard the United Nations as a mere ‘talk shop’. 1973 C. Mullard Black Britain xi. 133 They have broken away from the c.r.c., believing that it is a white man's talk-shop about black immigrant problems. |
| 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1042/2 There are now literally thousands of talk-shows. 1977 R. Ludlum Chancellor Manuscript vi. 78 They don't want you giving those interviews or going on talk shows. |
| 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. xi. 22 [He] For want of talk-stuffe, fals to foinery, Out goes his rapier. |
▸ talk radio n. orig. U.S. a radio format centring on conversation (rather than music), esp. discussion of topical or controversial issues, and usually featuring listeners who call in by telephone to air their opinions (in quot. 1968 perh. not a fixed collocation).
| 1968 N.Y. Times 27 Dec. 67/3 Its small-town, family-style folksiness and spontaneity seemed to be..in an era of fast-talking music and *talk radio, ultimately its undoing. 1972 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. 32/3 Talk radio is aired by tape, and it goes out 6½ seconds after it is recorded live. 2000 Independent 21 Nov. 15/2 By the office water cooler, on talk radio and in the newspaper columns, wags everywhere are devising ingenious forms of ridicule to heap on hapless Florida. |
▸ talk time n. time spent, or available for, talking (esp. on the telephone); spec. (on a mobile phone) (a) the total amount of time available for calls when the battery is fully charged; (b) time available for making prepaid or free calls for which the user is not billed; cf. call time n.
| 1963 Jrnl. Consulting Psychol. 27 199 Agreement or disagreement did not affect *talk-time differentially. 1965 Acad. Managem. Jrnl. 8 28 The rather minimal amount of talk time provided by the brief lunch period..reduced opportunities for widespread close interpersonal relationships. 1982 Computerworld 25 Oct. (Special Rep. Section) 8/4 The entire process, from initial connection to the time the next call is ready to be received—including record search time, talk time, processing and postprocessing—has been designed to take no more than 84 seconds per call. 1985 Puget Sound Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Apr. ii. 4 b, As many as forty new cellular phone models could be introduced this year and..many of the technological problems like low wattage and limited talk time are being resolved. 1996 Daily Express 1 Mar. 43 (advt.) A wide choice of tariffs, all with inclusive talktime every month. |
▪ II. talk, v.
(tɔːk)
Forms: 3 talkien, -kin, 4 -ken, 4–7 talke, 4– talk, (6 talcke, taulk(e, tawlke; also Sc. 5 tawke, 6 tak, 8 tauk, tawk).
[ME. talkien, talken: a deriv. vb. from tale n. or tell v. Cf. EFris. talken to talk, chatter, prattle, speak quietly, whisper; also other deriv. vbs. in -k, with a diminutive or frequentative force, as stalk, walk, lurk.]
I. Intransitive senses.
1. a. To convey or exchange ideas, thoughts, information, etc. by means of speech, especially the familiar speech of ordinary intercourse; ‘to speak in conversation’ (J.); to converse.
talk about{ddd}, often used colloq. to contrast something already mentioned with something still more striking; don't talk to me about (something), an exclamation against some new topic of conversation of which one has bitter personal experience.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 422 Auh talkeð mid ouer meidenes. a 1225 St. Marher. 13 Ich leote ham talkin ant tauelin of godlec, ant treowliche luuien ham. a 1300 Cursor M. 11743 (Cott.) Als þai to-gedir talked sua. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 82 To ouertake hym and talke to hym. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/1 Talkyn, fabulor, colloquor, confabulor, sermocinor. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 123 Thai culd tak and tell of mony thing. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 125 He hath talked herein with the Dukes of Bavier. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xl. 252 The Mountain where God talked with Moses. 1819 Metropolis III. 51 My mother and I talked at large on the subject. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. I. 180, I doubt whether I have ever really talked with half a dozen persons in my life. 1863 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 667 ‘Talk about women talking!’ says a lady of our acquaintance, herself by no means deficient in eloquence. ‘Why, look at the debates in the House of Commons, the public dinners, the vestry meetings, and, above all, the gossip, gossip, gossip at those horrid clubs!’ 1885 F. Anstey Tinted Venus xiv. 167 Well, Miss Collum, talk about jealousy! 1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail xi. 157 Talk about English people being fond of eating, that Canadian party beat all I had ever seen. 1940 Wodehouse Quick Service xii. 134 Did she mention her views on poor relations?.. She believes in treating them rough. Talk about oppressed minorities. 1958 P. Marris Widows & their Families viii. 118 ‘Don't talk to me about shoes,’ said the mother of two small children ruefully. ‘My little boy just ripped the sole off one pair.’ 1973 W. M. Duncan Big Timer xxi. 134 Talk about trouble! Goodness knows what Frank will say. 1980 R. Hill Spy's Wife vi. 33 ‘We've had a lot of rain,’ said Molly. ‘Don't talk to me about rain! You should have been here... I've never seen rain like it.’ |
b. By extension: To convey information in some other way, as by writing, with the fingers, eyes, etc.
| 1705 Addison Italy 459 The Natural Histories of Switzerland talk very much of the Fall of these Rocks. |
c. Of a ship, etc.: to communicate by radio.
| 1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 61/2 When several ships are ‘talking’ to the shore-station, some delay may arise in getting a message through. 1927 Pictorial Weekly 3 Mar. 117/1 Ships of all nationalities ‘talking’ with shore stations. |
2. a. talk of: to speak of, about, or in reference to (anything); also, = talk about in colloq. use, sense 1 a; often in indirect pass., to be talked of. to talk of (doing something), to speak somewhat vaguely, so as to suggest a notion, or express one's probable intention, of doing it. talking of.., apropos of..; also joc. introducing an unconnected subj.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 Ȝif ȝe þrafter þenne speken togedere folliche & talkeð of unnet. c 1375 Cursor M. 8035 (Fairf.) Hit is meruaile of ham to talke. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 295 Tawkand thus of materis that was wrocht. a 1555 Latimer Serm. in Lincoln ix. 142 Hearing them taulke of the wonderfull workes which Christ our Sauiour did. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 45 He doth nothing but talke of his horse. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 180 Erostratus, that Fir'd Diana's Temple to be Talk'd of for having done so. 1672, etc. [see devil n. 22 l]. 1759 Johnson Idler No. 71 ¶15 [He] talked..volubly of pettifoggers. 1821 Scott Kenilw. viii, The day was long talked of. 1831 M. Edgeworth Let. 30 Apr. (1971) 531 ‘Talking of coincidencies’ as Mr. Ward would say..that was something of a coincidence. 1840 Spirit of Times 23 May 133/2 By the way, ‘talking of guns’, we shall take it as a great favor if our correspondents will send their orders for English Magazines, papers, etc., direct to Messrs. Wiley and Putnam, instead of ordering them from this office. 1851 E. B. Browning Let. 12 Nov. (1897) II. vii. 29 Talk of English comforts! It's a national delusion. 1857 Dickens Let. to Miss Hogarth 15 Sept., [Wilkie Collins] talks of going to the theatre tonight in a cab. 1876 Atlantic Monthly Dec. 684 This gives Pulcheria time to murmer, ‘Talk of snub-noses!’ 1886 J. Payn Heir of Ages i, Talk of an angel and we hear the flutter of her wings. a 1910 Mod. Talking of Switzerland—have you ever been there in winter? 1950 F. Stark Traveller's Prelude xv. 191 She..asked: ‘Were you in a very small hospital?’ ‘I thought so.’ Talk of cats! |
b. to talk over: see 9 c.
3. a. To exercise the faculty of speech; to speak, utter words, say things; often contemptuous: to speak trivially, utter empty words, prate. to talk to, to address words to; colloq., to rebuke, scold, reprimand; (U.S.) dial., to court or woo (a woman); also to talk up to. Of a woman: to accept a man's attentions. to talk at random, at rovers: see these words.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 154 Þen þe lorde..talkez to his tormenttoures. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6136 Than Troilus tomly talket agayne. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit W. 246 Now tydis me for to talk; my taill it is nixt. a 1586 Sidney Ps. iv. iv, Talk with yor heart and yet be still. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 427 What canst thou talke (quoth she), hast thou a tong? 1670 Cotton Espernon iii. ix. 427 How comes it to pass you are not gone out to meet the Duke of Espernon? he'l talk with you for this when he comes. 1721 Ramsay Keitha 22 Wha 've heard her sing or tauk. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 42 A disposition to be talking for its own sake. 1860 E. Cowell Diary 17 Feb. in M. W. Disher Cowells in Amer. (1934) 18 Arrived there, we were set upon by sleigh conductors, one of whom Sam had also to ‘talk to’ for using bad language. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 36 Be assured that I shall be glad to hear you talk as much as you please. 1878 W. S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore ii. (1881) 295 I'll talk to Master Rackstraw in the morning. 1895 Dialect Notes I. 374 Judge Jackson's has been talkin' to my daughter nigh on a year. 1905 in Eng. Dial. Dict. VI. 22/2 Pat is talking to Kate this six months, they'll soon be married. 1906 Dialect Notes III. 160 Talk up to, v. phr., to court, to woo. ‘Bud's talkin' up to her.’ 1951 L. Craig Singing Hills xii. 110 The old man and me are powerful glad Ikey's made up his mind to talk up to a woman. We've been scared he'd be an old bachelor-man. 1951 H. Giles Harbin's Ridge xviii. 157 She mentioned that Faleecy John was talking to Jenny Clark a right smart. Ibid. 159 I'd not heard of her talking to anybody but Faleecy John. |
b. To say something as a rumour or matter of gossip; hence, to indulge in idle or censorious gossip. (Formerly also trans. with obj. clause.)
| 1461 Paston Lett. II. 7 Item, som men talke Lord Wellys, Lord Wyllouby, and Skales ben on lyve. 1669 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 12 They talk heere as if the King would goe a northerne progresse this summer. 1719 Ramsay Prol. to ‘The Orphan’ 15 But let them tauk. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 154 The king said..that it was difficult to prevent people from talking, and that loose reports were not to be regarded. |
c. to talk big, talk tall, etc., to talk boastfully; to indulge in inflated language; see also big a. 8 b; (colloq. or slang). to talk down (to an audience), to lower one's discourse to the assumed level of their intelligence; also transf. (in quots., of writers). to talk through one's hat: see hat n. 5 c; to talk through (the back of) one's neck: see neck n.1 3 e; to talk turkey: see turkey2 2 d.
| 1699 R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. (1725) 236, I talk big, and wherever I find an hungry Buzzard I throw him out a Bait. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 336 Some people think they need only talk loud and big and be very positive, to make all the World of their Opinion. 1841 Thirlwall Lett. (1881) I. 175 We are able to talk big about light and freedom. 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xiv. 498 ‘Say it again—what you said about the sea,’ said Mary, more comforted than if Ethel had been talking down to her. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. vi. cx. (1889) 669 On the Fourth of July..the speaker feels bound to talk ‘his very tallest’. 1919 H. Walpole Jeremy ii. 43 He always talked down to us as though we were beings of another and inferior planet. He called it, ‘Getting on with the little ones.’ 1954 M. F. Rodell Mystery Fiction i. 1 This does not mean that mystery fiction need be hack work; nor that the authors of it must ‘talk down’ to their audiences. 1970 Sci. Jrnl. Apr. 84/2 The authors for future titles all seem to be practising scientists. The problem will be whether they can achieve the necessary clarity of style without ‘talking down’ to their new audiences. |
d. to talk at, to make remarks intended for some one but not directly addressed to him.
| 1789 Loiterer 14 Feb. 11 Sometimes they talk to me, and sometimes at me. 1837 Marryat Olla Podr. xxxiii, They talked at us, and not to us. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxi, Mr. and Mrs. Wititterly, who had talked rather at the Nicklebys than to each other. 1894 M. Dyan All in a Man's K. (1899) 210 He had had no intention..of..talking at her, but the words had struck home. |
(b) to talk over (another person), to override or talk simultaneously with (another speaker) on a tape recording, broadcast programme, etc.
| 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio vii. 126 Superimpositions. Two people talking over each other are irritating. 1975 D. Pitts Target Manhattan (1976) xxviii. 111 Would you please announce your name and station first and try not to talk over other people. |
e. To say something to the purpose, esp. in colloq. phr. now you're talking. Also fig. of money: see money n. 6 a.
| 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge lii, in Master Humphrey's Clock III. 238 That's the kind of game... Now you talk, indeed! 1884 J. Hay Bread-Winners x. 149 Now you're talkin'. 1920 ‘O. Douglas’ Penny Plain ii. 21 ‘I'm going to Scotland.’ ‘Ah,’ said James Lauder, ‘now you're talking.’ 1936 L. Hellman Days to Come i. 26 ‘I was in Akron.’ That's the job I wanted. ‘Now we're talking... That's money for you.’ 1952 A. Christie Mrs. McGinty's Dead viii. 59 ‘A few days later Mrs. McGinty was murdered.’ ‘Now you're talking.’ 1974 M. Hastings Dragon Island xix. 174 ‘Now you're talking.’ Jukes said approvingly... ‘That's the best bit of sense you've spoke today.’ |
f. In various colloq. phrases stating or implying that someone is in no position to criticize another, exemplified by the types: you can't talk!; (look, hark) who's talking!; who am I to talk?; I should talk!
| 1847 Thackeray Van. Fair (1848) xli. 371 A person can't help their birth... I am sure Aunt Bute need not talk: she wants to marry Kate to young Hooper, the wine-merchant. 1895 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 200 ‘All you other men think of is to give him an absurd nickname.’.. ‘Well, you can't talk, William. You christened little Miss Demby the Button-quail.’ 1938 N. Marsh Artists in Crime ii. 24 You're paying his fare Home, of course. Well, I suppose I can't talk as you've given me the run of your house. 1945 A. Kober Parm Me 62 ‘Look who's talking!’ said Pa Gross, glaring at his wife. 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle ii. 12 She has had that dressing-gown so long that I don't think she sees it any more... But who am I to talk—who have not had a dressing-gown at all for two years? 1962 J. Cannan All is Discovered i. 11 Anyway Daddy can't talk. Whenever she's out he..spends hours with Maria. 1968 M. Ross Gasteropod iv. 99 ‘You should have hated me... Most men would have done.’ Max laughed. ‘Hark who's talking! What did you do?’ 1979 D. Gurr Troika viii. 55, I was rough on you... And stupid—I should talk! |
g. to talk back: to answer back; to indulge in ‘back-chat’. N. Amer. colloq.
| 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xii. 112 There was no ‘talking back’, no dissatisfaction about over-charging. 1939 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside iv. 22 Dad would never let anyone ‘talk back’ to Aunt Mary Maria. 1955 L. Hughes in Oliphant Q. Apr.–June 136 All over the world today folks with not even Mister in front of their names are raring up and talking back to the folks called Mister. 1977 M. French Women's Room (1978) ii. 117, I can't stand it when they start to talk back, be fresh. |
h. With alcoholic drink as subj.: used to excuse or explain uncharacteristic sentiments supposedly brought on by the drink consumed. Chiefly in pres. pple. colloq.
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 742 Paying his compliments the Bushmills whisky talking of course. a 1953 E. O'Neill Touch of Poet (1957) i. 42 But you understand, it was the liquor talking, if I said anything to wound you. 1982 R. Lewis Gathering of Ghosts iii. 102 It was all a bit stupid, you know. Beer talking, you know how it is. |
i. To disclose information, spec. to the police (or another authority), esp. incriminating oneself or others; to confess; to turn informer or ‘squeal’. slang.
| 1924 G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 420 Talk. See squeal, beef, spiel, chew rag. 1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke xv. 216 They've been through it today, but they're not talking. Why should they? 1959 W. Golding Free Fall vii. 144 ‘I won't talk. I know nothing.’ ‘Talk. Yes, that is the word. At some point, Mr. Mountjoy, you will talk.’ 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 May 605/3 He is, as they say, not talking, and refused to be interviewed by the authors of this book. |
j. With advb. accusative. to talk one's way in: to gain admission by persuasion. Similarly with out.
| 1973 Ottawa Jrnl. 3 Feb. 6/1 Their length of hospital stays, during which they tried to talk their way out, ranged from seven to 52 days; the average stay was 19 days. 1978 ‘D. Kyle’ Black Camelot xv. 237 If Rasch could talk his way in..the task would be simple. |
4. To utter words, or the sound of words, unconsciously, mechanically, or imitatively, as to talk in one's sleep, etc.
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 333 Item, she doth talke in her sleepe. 1704 Norris Ideal World ii. iii. 120 That..we may not be supposed to talk like parrots. 1890 Spectator 4 Oct., The raven is the largest creature except man that can ‘talk’. |
5. fig. Of inanimate things: To make sounds or noises resembling or suggesting speech. spec., of an anchor which is dragged (see drag v. 1 c).
| 1793 Wordsworth Evening Walk 319 The talking boat that moves with pensive sound. 1832 Blackw. Mag. XXXI. 508 She [a ship] began to slip through the water at a rapid rate and to talk. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. v. xxiii, The ship was talking, as sailors say, loudly, treading the innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash. 1885 W. L. Carpenter Soap & Candles vi. 161 [The bubbles] make so much noise in their escape that, in the language of the soap-boiler, ‘the soap talks’. 1900 Daily News 2 Jan. 6/1 It is to be hoped that they will not lose their heads when the rifles begin to talk in earnest. 1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xxiii. 224 ‘I think the starboard anchor is {oqq}talking{cqq}.’..A dull metallic sound detached itself from the sibilant rushing of water. 1917 J. S. Margerison Sure Shield 86 It was the ring chain that had worked slightly loose and which was allowing the five-ton mass of cast iron to slide three inches each way as the ship rolled and pitched, and the creaking sound of which had given rise to the phrase ‘the anchor's talking’. 1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 118/1 A ship's anchor is said to come home, or ‘talk’, when it is dragging. |
II. Transitive senses.
6. a. To utter or speak in familiar language (words, a tale, etc.); to express in talk or speech (matter, opinions, etc.). † Also with obj. clause.: see 3 b. to talk out, to utter freely, give full utterance to.
| c 1205 Lay. 788 Þat nan ne beo so wilde..þat word talie ne talkie mid speche. 13.. Cursor M. 17288 + 332 (Cott.) What wordez are þos..þat ȝe to-gedir talk? 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2133 Bot I wyl to þe chapel..& talk wyth þat ilk tulk þe tale þat me lyste. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 269 The modrys of eloquence the musys ix..wisely talke dytees ful delectable. 1533 More Debell. Salem xiv. Wks. 966/2 To heare heresyes talked and lette the talkers alone. 1682 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 52 (1713) II. 78 Let's leave him..and talk a little News that's common to the rest of the World. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. ii. i. (1841) I. 174 Why, you talk blasphemy almost. 1775 A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 115, I have written many things to you that..I never could have talked. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiv, They could not talk scandal in any tongue but their own. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iv, An old friend to whom he could talk out his mind. |
b. To use as a spoken language, to speak conversationally: as to talk French, talk German, talk Somerset, talk slang. So to talk sailor (= to use nautical language), etc. to talk Greek, talk Hebrew, talk Double-Dutch, talk gibberish, etc., to use language unintelligible to the hearer.
| 1859 Habits of Gd. Society (new ed.) 89 We..would not have him talk slang. 1869 F. W. Newman Misc. 146 A single race, whose ancestors once talked a common language. 1886 Manch. Exam. 3 Nov. 5/6 Hundreds of young women who can talk French and German fluently. 1881 Cent. Mag. XXIII. 126/2, I..could talk sailor like an ‘old salt’. 1903 Daily Chron. 12 Feb. 3/1 Englishmen who have visited America will remember their gratification at being invited to ‘talk United States’. |
7. To discourse about, speak of, discuss. Now colloq. to talk shop, to talk about matters pertaining to one's own business or profession.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 359 He..talkede wiþ hym fiftene dayes þe gospel [conferens cum eo evangelium]. 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. (1682) 179 He desired to talk some things with him privately. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 483 That Crystalline Sphear whose ballance weighs The Trepidation talkt. 1819 Shelley Julian & Maddalo 179 Aye, if we were not weak... You talk Utopia. 1821 Byron Diary 29 Jan., They talk Dante—write Dante—and think and dream Dante. 1854 Emerson Soc. Aims Wks. (Bohn) III. 181 Never ‘talk shop’ before company. 1870 M. Bridgman Rob. Lynne I. ix. 129 He threw all his ardour into talking business. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. I. x. 302 Talking horse, and playing billiards. 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 3 Feb. 2/3 ‘Talking shop’..means talking of the interests of the work which you do, or the profession to which you belong. 1898 P. White Millionaire's Dau. xxxi, We talked ‘Oxford’, the dean addressing his remarks to me. |
(b) to talk a good game: to discuss a topic convincingly (with implication that no action is taken). Also, to talk a great ball game. U.S. colloq.
| 1972 ‘H. Pentecost’ Birthday, Deathday iv. 39 Hollywood address... Talks a great ball game to the hotel people out there about his big film deals. 1973 Philadelphia Inquirer (Today Suppl.) 14 Oct. 171 She still talks a good game. To hear her tell it, she's the Henry Kissinger of consumerism. 1977 New Yorker 18 July 52/1 While they talk a good game, their considerations are consolidating their power around the world. |
8. To bring or drive (oneself or another) into some specified state by talking.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 369 They would talke themselues madde. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, i. iv. 45 Talke vs to silence. 1711 Pope Ess. Crit. 36 No Place so Sacred from such Fops is barr'd,..Nay, run to Altars; there they'll talk you dead. 1738 Johnson London 4 And here a female Atheist talks you dead. 1816 Scott Let. to Morritt 21 Aug. in Lockhart, I talked them to death. 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism v. iii. 175 He..used to talk one sick about how little scope he had in his parish. |
9. a. With adv. or prep.: To influence, move, or affect by talking; as to talk down, (a) to put down by talking; to out-talk; (b) to reduce or diminish by talking; to denigrate or belittle; (c) Econ., to depress the value of (a currency) or the price of (a commodity) by making tactical public statements; similarly, to talk lower; (d) see sense 9 d below; to talk (a person) into or out of, to persuade into, or dissuade from (something) by talking; to talk out, to talk to the end of; to carry on the discussion of (a bill in Parliament, etc.) till the time for adjournment is reached, and so frustrate its progress by preventing its being put to a vote; to talk (a person) over or round, to win over, or into compliance, by talking; to talk (a person) through (something), to provide with a commentary on (some event); to take through with helpful explanation; to talk (a thing) up, (a) to talk strenuously in support of, to ‘crack up’; (b) to discuss favourably; to stimulate interest in by talking, esp. exaggeratedly; to praise or advocate (chiefly U.S.); to extract from (a person) by persuasion; to talk (a person) up to, to bring (him) up to the point or level of (something) by talking.
| a 1658 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton i. ii, Why Mr. Thorney, d'ye mean to talk out your dinner? 1697 Collier Ess. ii. (1703) 64 A friend who relates his success talks himself into a new pleasure. 1706 Vanbrugh Mistake iii. i. Wks. (1840) 449/1 [I have] told him the secret, and then talked him into a liking on't. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 152 He talks himself into a..convert. Ibid. xii. 262, I would be talking myself up to vigorous resolution. 1722 ― Col. Jack (1840) 304, I failed not to talk up the gallantry..of his..majesty. 1797–8 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. xxxv, You shan't talk me out of my satisfaction. 1814 ― Mansf. Park I. xiii. 269 She started no difficulties that were not talked down in five minutes. 1832 J. S. Mill Let. 25 Jan. in Wks. (1963) XII. 94 Most men in this country have a strong prejudice against any attempt to talk them over as the vulgar say. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 284 Her that talk'd down the fifty wisest men. 1862 Latham Channel Isl. iii. xvi. (ed. 2) 377 He..was talked-over by Prince Maurice, whom, unless he meant to be talked-over, he had no occasion to meet. 1863 Trollope Rachel Ray I. viii. 151 Mrs. Butler Cornbury..talked her young friend up to the top of the tree. 1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons lvi, He talked over Trevittick, who sulkily acquiesced. 1865 Kingsley Herew. vi, You need not try to talk this out of my head. 1872 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. I. 679 This little conversation led me to talk the matter up with the marble dealers. 1873 Punch 19 July 22/2 Mr. Beresford Hope ‘talked out’ the Bill. 1883 Cent. Mag. XXV. 527/2 ‘Talk him into taking a little rest’, said Helen. a 1882 Trollope Autobiogr. (1883) I. v. 108, I received {pstlg}20... The money had been ‘talked out of’ the worthy publisher by..my brother, who made the bargain for me. 1885 C. C. Harrison in Harper's Mag. Mar. 546/1 He must be talked into it. 1894 Miss Cobbe Life I. 341, I do believe I could walk down anybody and perhaps talk down anybody too. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 9/3 Clever talkers are kept..to ‘talk up’ the patients to the highest possible fee. 1903 Speaker 21 Nov., Suppl. 3 Give Mr. Chamberlain time to talk himself out. 1931 Daily Express 5 Sept. 10/5 Amsterdam is taking a bearish view of Royal Dutch and is ‘talking’ the shares {pstlg}2 lower. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August iii. 56 The old men and the old women trying to talk down his gleeful excitement. 1933 Sun (Baltimore) 12 July 3/2 Thus far the dollar has been ‘talked down’. 1938 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 10 Nov. 1/7 (heading) Victorious Taft talks down 1940 chances. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) ii. 17 You talk it up like a longtime grifter. 1962 Spectator 28 Dec. 999/3 Most professionals [on the Paris Stock Exchange] are talking their market lower. 1967 Economist 4 Mar. 797/2 The non⁓mandatory system..will allow the Government, in American style, to ‘talk down’ a price. 1970 New Eng. Bible Prov. xix. 26 He who talks his father down vexes his mother. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 27 A year later when I made my Test debut against New Zealand at Lord's. Ted [Dexter] virtually talked me through the game. 1978 Daily Tel. 16 Mar. 11/1, I am fed up with people talking down the NHS, failing to put things into perspective by pointing to the successes as well as the difficulties. 1980 Times 28 Jan. 19/2 For years the Silver Users Association..has been successfully talking the price of silver down. 1982 Nature 13 May 91/1 True, the Western media are delighted to talk up ‘Star Wars’ fantasies, the US shuttle, Ariane or Soviet space weapons. But they have overlooked the main substance of the Soviet [space] programme. |
b. To spend or pass away (time, and the like) in or by talking.
| 1676 Cotton Walton's Angler ii. i. (1881) 245 We have already talked away two miles of your journey. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals Misc. Wks. 1736 III. 12, I am very well content to talk away an evening with you on the subject. 1890 Clark Russell Ocean Trag. III. xxxiv. 242 Thus idly would we talk away the days. |
c. to talk (a thing) over, to talk over (a matter): to discuss it in familiar conference or conversation.
| 1734 Watts Reliq. Juv. (1789) 218 When I have talked my diseases all over to them. 1810 Scott Let. to Morritt 2 Mar. in Lockhart, We talked over this subject once while riding on the banks of Tees. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xxiii, We will talk over the matter as we go. 1851 FitzGerald Euphranor (1904) 78 They could talk the matter over. |
d. to talk down: to provide (an aircraft) with directions by radio communication which enable it to land, esp. in overcast or emergency conditions. Also with in: chiefly applied to ships seeking landfall. Hence with the pilot or navigating officer as subj. Occas. with other advbs. and preps.
| 1943 Plane Talk June 28/3 The bombardier talks the pilot ‘in’, telling him which way to turn. 1945 Sci. News Let. 25 Aug. 127/1 A blindfolded pilot..was ‘talked-down’ to the runway by a control operator. 1946 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. XCIII. iii. a. 1–4 124/2 If we make these aircraft carry simple radio receivers, and pin-point them with our accurate radar, it is quite possible to ‘talk them down’ by giving detailed instructions to the pilot. 1955 Sun (Baltimore) 12 June (b ed.) 3/4 The ground controlled approach equipment—through which a plane is ‘talked in’ to a landing. 1957 Times 24 Aug. 4/1 From information telephoned to Ford by police officers it [sc. the helicopter] was ‘talked’ to where two young girls and a young man were clinging to an overturned dinghy. 1960 ‘N. Shute’ Trustee from Toolroom 97 They get us on the radar screen and talk us down on to the runway. 1962 J. Dill in Into Orbit p. xviii, Shephard was seated before a console..ready to talk John Glenn back to earth. 1967 Observer 2 Apr. 10/6 Ships could be advised of optimum routes and speeds as they approach port, and even ‘talked in’ through fog. 1970 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 2/6 It is a ‘blind landing system’ in which a ground controller talks down an airliner in bad weather by watching its approach on a radar screen. |
10. Colloq. phrases. to talk the hind leg off a donkey (horse, etc.), applied to one who: (a) talks with unflagging and wearying persistence, or: (b) is said to have the power to persuade another by eloquent or charming speech; to talk (someone's) ear off: to talk incessantly or until one is tired of listening (U.S.).
| 1808 Cobbett's Weekly Pol. Reg. XIII. ii. 47 The old vulgar hyperbole of ‘talking a horse's hind leg off’..will find its verification in the American Congress. 1861 Temple Bar I. 414 One has heard of persons who could ‘talk a donkey's hind leg off’. 1879 Trollope John Caldigate III. ix. 122 She'd talk the hind-legs off a dog, as we used to say out there [sc. in Australia]. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxxxviii. 459 ‘Doesn't she look like Rubens' second wife?’ cried Athelny. ‘Wouldn't she look splendid in a seventeenth-century costume? That's the sort of wife to marry, my boy. Look at her.’ ‘I believe you'd talk the hind leg off a donkey, Athelny,’ she answered calmly. 1935 G. & S. Lorimer Heart Specialist i. 9 An American will talk your ear off about his sport with a little encouragement. 1942 G. H. D. & M. Cole Toper's End iv. ix. 138 You can talk the 'ind leg off any donkey. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 10 Apr. 9/5 Heck! I could talk your ear off. But let me just say that in all my 40 years of organizing and escorting tours, I haven't found a better one than this one. |
▸ trans. a. colloq. (orig. U.S.). to talk the (also that) talk: to speak convincingly or effectively, or in a manner consistent with the image one projects or the values one advocates, usually with the implication that such speech is mere rhetoric or posturing without substance. Often contrasted with to walk the (also that) walk at walk v. Additions.
| 1906 Chillicothe (Missouri) Constit. 28 July 6/4 Bill's one o' these fellers who'll talk the talk. 1962 H. Gardner Thousand Clowns iii. 77, I get up, I go, I lie a little, I peddle a little, I watch the rules, I talk the talk. 1973 Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times 3 Jan. 6/4 Let's see some action... Let's stop talking the talk—let's start walking the walk. 1989 J. C. Martin Chalk Talks on Alcohol xvii. 157 It's what they do between meetings that really counts, not what they say around the tables. It's easy to ‘talk the talk’. 1993 Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 8 Jan. d1 Talking that talk and walking that walk might be two different things. 2000 S. Afr. Times UK 1 July 11/2 I'm sick and tired of seeing yet another little media performance of ministers talking the talk. |
b. U.S. slang (in African-American usage). to talk that talk: to speak, esp. creatively or effectively, in a manner associated with or considered distinctive of African-Americans, such as joning, jiving, etc.
| 1969 J. A. Walker Harangue (Electronic text) 40 You don't even know how to talk that talk. You're so goddam un-Negro you make me sick. 1988 Black Amer. Lit. Forum 22 267 This is all jive in its purest form... ‘If You Behave’ is another example of Dumas's poetically talking that ‘talk’ we love to hear. 1993H. L. Gates in Intimate Critique 144 The first chapter..contains an extended recreation of the African-American ritual of signifying, which is also known as ‘talking that talk’, ‘the dozens’, ‘nasty talk’, and so on. 2001 A. Y. Davis Imagining Medea i. 39 And I could talk that talk. I could throw in that vernacular. It's a whole way of talking. |
▸ Chiefly U.S. colloq. (orig. in African-American use). to talk trash, to gossip; to engage in foolish, exaggerated, or untruthful discussion; (now chiefly Sport) to deliver trash talk. Cf. trash talk n.
| 1947 N.Y. Times 16 Nov. ii. 7/6 Sitting with the dynamic little woman, ‘talking trash and drinking mash’, we found that she had started shouting the blues in public at the age of 12..in New York. 1951 Philadelphia Evening Bull. 11 Nov. Remember way back then you used to say ‘whatcha know, Joe?’... Now you say ‘Let's talk trash’ or else ask ‘What's shakin'?’ 1967 P. Thomas Down these Mean Streets xii. 112 Trina seemed sobered up, but as soon as the night air hit her, it brought back her high. She started talking trash through her hair. ‘I can drink anytime I want to.’ 1971 D. Wells & S. Dance Night People v. 79 Say, man, go talk trash with the bus driver, because you've heard your last words from me for quite a while. 1991 Inside Sports Oct. 50/1 Sure, he talks more trash than Oscar the Grouch on a bad day, but it says here that the lovable lug is mostly good for the game. 2002 Esquire Apr. 103/2 You can talk trash, you can push the line. But the truth's gonna come out. |