There’s a subtle difference between speaking and talking. Speaking tends to be more formal—you wouldn’t say Talker of the House of Representatives—while talking tends to connote conversation. For more on this topic, check out The Scene of Linguistic Action and its Perspectivization by SPEAK, TALK, SAY and TELL. This is part of a complete episode.
More from this show
According to Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English (Bookshop|Amazon) by Ben Yagoda, the word smarmy, meaning “unctuous” or “ingratiating,” may come from a 19th-century magazine contest, in which readers sent in...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...