talk back

noun Radio and Television.

a communications system enabling those in the studio to hear control-room personnel through a loudspeaker or headphones.

Origin:
noun use of verb phrase talk back

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used without object)

to communicate or exchange ideas, information, etc., by speaking: to talk about poetry.

to consult or confer: Talk with your adviser.

to spread a rumor or tell a confidence; gossip.

to chatter or prate.

to employ speech; perform the act of speaking: to talk very softly; to talk into a microphone.

to deliver a speech, lecture, etc.: The professor talked on the uses of comedy in the tragedies of Shakespeare.

to give or reveal confidential or incriminating information: After a long interrogation, the spy finally talked.

to communicate ideas by means other than speech, as by writing, signs, or signals.

Computers. to transmit data, as between computers or between a computer and a terminal.

10.

to make sounds imitative or suggestive of speech.

verb (used with object)

11.

to express in words; utter: to talk sense.

12.

to use (a specified language or idiom) in speaking or conversing: They talk French together for practice.

13.

to discuss: to talk politics.

14.

Informal. (used only in progressive tenses) to focus on; signify or mean; talk about: This isn't a question of a few hundred dollars—we're talking serious money.

15.

to bring, put, drive, influence, etc., by talk: to talk a person to sleep; to talk a person into doing something.

noun

16.

the act of talking; speech; conversation, especially of a familiar or informal kind.

17.

an informal speech or lecture.

18.

a conference or negotiating session: peace talks.

19.

report or rumor; gossip: There is a lot of talk going around about her.

20.

a subject or occasion of talking, especially of gossip: Your wild escapades are the talk of the neighborhood.

21.

mere empty speech: That's just a lot of talk.

22.

a way of talking: a halting, lisping talk.

23.

language, dialect, or lingo.

24.

signs or sounds imitative or suggestive of speech, as the noise made by loose parts in a mechanism.

Verb phrases

25.

talk around, to bring (someone) over to one's way of thinking; persuade: She sounded adamant over the phone, but I may still be able to talk her around.

26.

talk at,

to talk to in a manner that indicates that a response is not expected or wanted.

to direct remarks meant for one person to another person present; speak indirectly to.

27.

talk away, to spend or consume (time) in talking: We talked away the tedious hours in the hospital.

28.

talk back, to reply to a command, request, etc., in a rude or disrespectful manner: Her father never allowed them to talk back.

29.

talk down,

to overwhelm by force of argument or by loud and persistent talking; subdue by talking.

to speak disparagingly of; belittle.

Also, talk in. to give instructions to by radio for a ground-controlled landing, especially to a pilot who is unable to make a conventional landing because of snow, fog, etc.

30.

talk down to, to speak condescendingly to; patronize: Children dislike adults who talk down to them.

31.

talk of, to debate as a possibility; discuss: The two companies have been talking of a merger.

32.

talk out,

to talk until conversation is exhausted.

to attempt to reach a settlement or understanding by discussion: We arrived at a compromise by talking out the problem.

British Politics. to thwart the passage of (a bill, motion, etc.) by prolonging discussion until the session of Parliament adjourns. Compare filibuster ( def 5 ).

33.

talk over,

to weigh in conversation; consider; discuss.

to cause (someone) to change an opinion; convince by talking: He became an expert at talking people over to his views.

34.

talk up,

to promote interest in; discuss enthusiastically.

to speak without hesitation; speak distinctly and openly: If you don't talk up now, you may not get another chance.

Idioms

35.

talk big, Informal. to speak boastingly; brag: He always talked big, but never amounted to anything.

36.

talk someone's head/ear off, to bore or weary someone by excessive talk; talk incessantly: All I wanted was a chance to read my book, but my seatmate talked my ear off.

37.

talk to death,

to impede or prevent the passage of (a bill) through filibustering.

to talk to incessantly or at great length.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English talk(i)en to converse, speak, derivative (with -k suffix) of tale speech, discourse, tale; cognate with Frisian (E dial.) talken

Related forms

talk·a·ble, adjective

talk·a·bil·i·ty, noun

talk·er, noun

in·ter·talk, verb (used without object)

non·talk·er, noun

o·ver·talk, verb

un·der·talk, noun

un·talk·ing, adjective

Synonyms
1. See speak. 4, 20. prattle. 34. discourse. 17. colloquy, dialogue, parley, confabulation.

Link To talk back

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Talk back is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

talk (tɔːk)

—vb (usually foll by about)
1.	(intr; often foll by to or with) to express one's thoughts, feelings, or desires by means of words (to); speak (to)
2.	(intr) to communicate or exchange thoughts by other means: lovers talk with their eyes
3.	to exchange ideas, pleasantries, or opinions (about): to talk about the weather
4.	(intr) to articulate words; verbalize: his baby can talk
5.	(tr) to give voice to; utter: to talk rubbish
6.	(tr) to hold a conversation about; discuss: to talk business
7.	(intr) to reveal information: the prisoner talked after torture
8.	(tr) to know how to communicate in (a language or idiom): he talks English
9.	(intr) to spread rumours or gossip: we don't want the neighbours to talk
10.	(intr) to make sounds suggestive of talking
11.	(intr) to be effective or persuasive: money talks
12.	informal now you're talking at last you're saying something agreeable
13.	talk big to boast or brag
14.	talk shop to speak about one's work, esp when meeting socially, sometimes with the effect of excluding those not similarly employed
15.	talk the talk See also walk to speak convincingly on a particular subject, showing apparent mastery of its jargon and themes; often used in combination with the expression walk the walk
16.	informal you can talk you don't have to worry about doing a particular thing yourself
17.	informal you can't talk you yourself are guilty of offending in the very matter you are decrying

—n
18.	a speech or lecture: a talk on ancient Rome
19.	an exchange of ideas or thoughts: a business talk with a colleague
20.	idle chatter, gossip, or rumour: there has been a lot of talk about you two
21.	a subject of conversation; theme: our talk was of war
22.	(often plural) a conference, discussion, or negotiation: talks about a settlement
23.	a specific manner of speaking: children's talk

[C13 talkien to talk; related to Old English talutale, Frisian talken to talk]

'talkable

—*adj*

talka'bility

—n

'talker

—n

talk back

—vb
1.	to answer boldly or impudently
2.	(NZ) to conduct a telephone dialogue for immediate transmission over the air

—n
3.	television, radio a system of telephone links enabling spoken directions to be given during the production of a programme
4.	(NZ)
	a. a broadcast telephone dialogue
	b. (as modifier): a talkback show

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

talk

early 13c., talken, probably a dim. or frequentative form related to M.E. tale "story," ultimately from the same source as tale (cf. hark from hear, stalk from steal) and replacing that word as a verb. E.Fris. has talken "to talk, chatter, whisper." To talk shop is from 1854.

To talk turkey is from 1824, supposedly from an elaborate joke about a swindled Indian. Talking head is from 1968. Talkative is first recorded early 15c. To talk back "answer impudently or rudely" is from 1869.

talk

late 15c., "speech, discourse, conversation," from talk (v.). Meaning "informal lecture or address" is from 1859. Talk of the town first recorded 1620s. Talk show first recorded 1965; talk radio is from 1985.

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

TAlk
total alkalinity

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

talk back

Also, answer back. Reply rudely or impertinently, as in She was always in trouble for talking back, or The teacher won't allow anyone to answer back to her. [Second half of 1800s]

Matching Quote

"Too timid to talk back, I shot my adversary."

-Mason Cooley

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