# talk

Pronunciation: say "TAWK" US /tɔk/, UK /tɔːk/

## Verb

1. To speak with others in order to communicate, exchanging ideas or information, often about a particular subject.
   - Simple: To speak with someone, sharing ideas or news, often about a certain subject.
   - _She talked to her neighbor for an hour about the new school._
   - _We can talk about the budget once everyone arrives._
7. Used informally to stress the size, cost, or complexity of the thing being mentioned. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used to point out how big, costly, or hard something really is.
   - _The barn needs new beams, a roof and wiring, so you're talking months of work._
   - _If the city wants a new subway line, we're talking at least ten years of work and several billion dollars._
9. To produce words with the voice and communicate in speech, or to be capable of doing so.
   - Simple: To say words out loud, or to be able to speak.
   - _After the surgery on his jaw, he couldn't talk for almost a month._
   - _She talked so quietly that nobody in the back row could hear her._
10. To spread gossip or stir up scandal.
   - Simple: To spread stories about other people's private lives.
   - _If we're seen together, everyone will talk._
   - _The whole village talked when she left her husband._
13. To confess or give information to authorities, especially in a way that implicates others. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To tell the police or others about a crime, often naming the people involved.
   - _After days of questioning, the suspect began to talk._
   - _They feared their accomplice would talk to investigators._
14. To speak a given language. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To speak a particular language.
   - _At home my grandparents talk Tagalog, but they switch to English when my friends visit._
   - _He talks Mandarin with his clients._
5. Of a drink, drug, feeling, or interest: to be the real influence behind what someone says, as in that's the wine talking. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To be the real cause of what someone says, as in that's the wine talking.
   - _When he's been drinking, the whiskey starts to talk, so don't take his promises too seriously._
   - _He swears he'll quit tomorrow, but I suspect that's the exhaustion talking, not a real decision._
16. To express something only in speech, without it being matched by reality or action.
   - Simple: To say something in words instead of actually doing it.
   - _Politicians often talk reform while doing little to enact it._
   - _The new manager talked a good fight about cutting waste, yet the budget grew every year he was in charge._
17. To criticize someone for a fault that one is equally guilty of.
   - Simple: To criticize someone for doing what you do yourself.
   - _She told me to be punctual? She can talk, she's always late._
   - _Look who's talking about messy desks._
18. To convince someone by speaking with them, either to do something or to refrain from doing it.
   - Simple: To make someone agree to do something, or not to do it, by what you say to them.
   - _It took the salesman less than ten minutes to talk us into the more expensive model._
   - _Her lawyer talked her out of making a statement to the press._

## Noun

2. A conversation or exchange of views, typically on a serious matter though relaxed in tone.
   - Simple: A conversation between people, often about something serious but in a relaxed way.
   - _The couple had a quiet talk about their future._
   - _A heart-to-heart talk cleared up the misunderstanding._
3. A formal meeting held to discuss a particular matter.
   - Simple: A meeting where people come together to discuss an important matter.
   - _Trade talks resumed after a long break._
   - _Both leaders agreed to talks about border security._
4. A spoken presentation or lecture delivered to an audience, often on a particular subject.
   - Simple: A speech given to teach or inform a group of people.
   - _The professor's talk on Roman history lasted an hour._
   - _He prepared a short talk for the conference._
6. A subject that many people are discussing, especially at a particular time or place.
   - Simple: The subject that almost everyone is discussing at a certain time.
   - _The unexpected merger was the talk of the financial district for months._
   - _Within days the comet had become the talk of every village along the coast._
8. Boasting, promises, or claims that have no real substance behind them.
   - Simple: Big promises or boasts that do not lead to real action.
   - _The campaign was full of talk but offered no concrete proposals._
   - _Investors grew tired of talk and demanded measurable results._
11. Rumor or gossip passed among people.
   - Simple: Things people say about others, often not proven to be true.
   - _The talk around town was that the factory would close._
   - _Idle talk about their breakup spread quickly._
12. The conversation that parents traditionally have with a child to explain sexual intercourse.
   - Simple: The conversation in which a parent first explains sex to their child.
   - _She decided her daughter was old enough for the talk._
   - _Schools sometimes step in when parents keep putting off the talk._
15. The customary conversation in which Black parents explain to their child the racism and violence they may face, especially from police, and how to handle it. *(US)*
   - Simple: The conversation where Black parents teach their child how to stay safe from racism and police violence.
   - _Many Black parents give the talk early, teaching children how to stay calm if police stop them._
   - _When I started driving, Dad gave me the talk about facing police as a young Black man._

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 5, 7, 9–10, 13–14, 16–18** — "Talk" comes from Middle English talken, from Old English *tealcian ("to talk, chat"), a frequentative form built on a Germanic root meaning "to count, recount, tell". It is thus related to "tell" and "tale", and has cognates in Scandinavian words like Danish tale and Swedish tala. Despite the resemblance, it is not related to the root behind "loquacious".
**Meanings 2–4, 6, 8, 11–12, 15** — This noun was formed from the verb and goes back to Middle English talk or talke ("conversation, discourse").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/talk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).