Talk v.

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 sb. 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.  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..., often used colloq. to contrast something already mentioned with something still more striking.

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.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 125. He hath talked herein with the Dukes of Bavier.

1651.  Hobbes, Leviath., II. 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.

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.

  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.

  2.  Talk of: to speak of, about, or in reference to (anything); 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….

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 Saucour did.

1596.  Shaks., 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 sb. 22 l].

1759.  Johnson, Idler, No. 21, ¶ 15. [He] talked … volubly of pettifoggers.

1809.  W. Irving, Knickerb., VI. i. (1812), II. 64. This is but a lofty and gigantic mode in which heroic writers always talk of war, thereby to give it a noble and imposing aspect.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., viii. The day was long talked of.

1857.  Dickens, Lett. to Miss Hogarth, 15 Sept. [Wilkie Collins] talks of going to the theatre tonight in a cab.

1870.  W. K. Wigram, 12 Tales in Rhyme, 212.

1886.  J. Payn, Heir of Ages, i. Talk of an angel and we hear the flutter of her wings.

Mod. Talking of Switzerland—have you ever been there in winter?

  b.  To talk over: see 9 c.

  3.  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. 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.  Shaks., 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.

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.

  b.  To say something as a rumor or matter of gossip; hence, to indulge in idle or censorious gossip. (Formerly also trans. with obj. cl.)

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, tall, etc., to talk boastfully; to indulge in inflated language. colloq. or slang. To talk down (to an audience), to lower one’s discourse to the assumed level of their intelligence.

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.

1888.  Bryce, Amer. Commw., VI. cx. (1889), 669. On the Fourth of July … the speaker feels bound to talk ‘his very tallest.’

  d.  To talk at, to make remarks intended for some one but not directly addressed to him.

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.  Mrs. Dyan, All in a Man’s K. (1899), 210. He had had no intention … of … talking at her, but the words had struck home.

  4.  To utter words, or the sound of words, unconsciously, mechanically, or imitatively, as to talk in one’s sleep, etc.

1591.  Shaks., 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.

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 thai they will not lose their heads when the rifles begin to talk in earnest.

1915.  Anna B. Dodd, Heroic France, x. 113–4. In the heart of many a German soldier the hope leapt high that Paris might be fool-hardy enough to make her cannon talk.

  II.  Transitive senses.

  6.  To utter or speak in familiar language (words, a tale, etc.); to express in talk or speech (matter, opinions, etc.). † Also with obj. cl.: 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.  Abigail 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, German, Somerset, slang. So to talk sailor (= to use nautical language), etc. To talk Greek, Hebrew, Double-Dutch, gibberish, etc., to use language unintelligible to the hearer.

1754.  Sarah Fielding, The Cry, I. III. iv. It could not be supposed that one would talk nonsense who was capable of talking any thing else.

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 fuently.

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.  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.  Miss 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.

1911.  A. Bierce, Wks., X. 310. I am even willing to ‘talk books.’

  8.  To bring or drive (oneself or another) into some specified state by talking.

1599.  Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 369. They would talke themselues madde. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., I. iv. 45. Talke vs to silence.

1816.  Scott, Lett. to Morritt, 21 Aug., in Lockhart. I talked them to death.

  9.  With adv. or prep.: To influence, move, or affect by talking; as to talk down, to put down by talking; to out-talk; 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 thing) up, to talk strenuously in support of, to ‘crack up’; to talk (a person) into or out of, to persuade into, or dissuade from (something) by talking; 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. Ibid. (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.

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.

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.

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.

1885.  C. C. Harrison, in Harper’s Mag., March, 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 March, 9/3. Clever talkers are kepi … to ‘talk up’ the patients to the highest possible fee.

1903.  Speaker, 21 Nov., Suppl. 3. Give Mr. Chamberlain time to talk himself out.

  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.

1755.  J. Shebbeare, Lydia (1763), III. cxxii. 240. [He] was up on every Occasion, to talk away the Hours, till a Majority of Votes appeared in Favour of the M——.

1856.  J. B. Jones, War-path (1865), iv. 37. Richard had departed to the field, accompanied by the slaves, to labour for an hour in the night, and Mr. Green, as usual, had come to talk away the evening with the old people.

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, Relig. Juv. (1789), 218. When I have talked my diseases all over to them.

1783.  Scots Mag., XLV. Aug., 443/2. His Lordship was astonished, and requested Mr Atkinson to come and dine with him the next day, and they would talk over the matter.

1810.  Scott, Lett. to Morritt, 2 March, 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.

1853.  M. Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, II. xxxv. 250. The friends of the opposed parties had begun to talk over the dispute, and from talking they had proceeded to argue; and the argument was beginning to wax disagreeably warm.