What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Say vs Talk - What's the difference?

say | talk |

In transitive terms the difference between say and talk

is that say is to recite while talk is to communicate, usually by means of speech.

In intransitive terms the difference between say and talk

is that say is to speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply while talk is to gossip; to create scandal.

As an adverb say

is Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion

As a conjunction say

is Used to introduce a hypothetical

say

English

(wikipedia say)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) seyen, seien, seggen, &c., from (etyl) .

Verb

  • To pronounce.
  • To recite.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.}}
  • To communicate, either verbally or in writing.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said . And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.}}
  • To indicate in a written form.
  • (impersonal) To have a common expression; (used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact).
  • * 1815 , :
  • They say that Hope is happiness; But genuine Love must prize the past.
  • * 1819 , Great Britain Court of Chancery, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery , page 8:
  • It is said , a bargain cannot be set aside upon inadequacy only.
  • * 1841 , Christopher Marshall, The Knickerbocker (New-York Monthly Magazine) , page 379:
  • It’s said that fifteen wagon loads of ready-made clothes for the Virginia troops came to, and stay in, town to-night.
  • (informal, imperative) Let's say; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
  • * 1984 , (Martin Amis), Money: a suicide note?
  • I've followed Selina down the strip, when we're shopping, say , and she strolls on ahead, wearing sawn-off jeans and a wash-withered T-shirt
  • To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • You have said ; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • To this argument we shall soon have said ; for what concerns it us to hear a husband divulge his household privacies?
  • .
  • *
  • Synonyms
    * See
    Derived terms
    * dessay * doomsaying * nay-say * saith * sayeth * sayer * saying * there is much to be said * what do you say * you don't say

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One's stated opinion or input into a discussion or decision.
  • * 2004 , Richard Rogers, Information politics on the Web
  • Above all, however, we would like to think that there is more to be decided, after the engines and after the humans have had their says .

    References

    * *

    Etymology 2

    Grammaticalization of the verb. In the case of the conjunction, it could be considered an elision of "Let's say that" and for the "for example" sense of "Let's say"

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) (non-gloss definition, Used to gain one's attention before making an inquiry or suggestion)
  • Say , what did you think about the movie?
  • For example; let us assume.
  • Pick a color you think they'd like, say , peach.
    He was driving pretty fast, say , fifty miles per hour.
    Synonyms
    * (used to gain attention) hey

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (informal) (Used to introduce a hypothetical)
  • Say your family is starving and you don't have any money, is it ok to steal some food?

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) saie, from (etyl) saga, plural of .

    Noun

    (-)
  • A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.iv:
  • All in a kirtle of discolourd say / He clothed was

    Etymology 4

    Aphetic form of assay.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To try; to assay.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
  • * Hooker
  • If those principal works of God be but certain tastes and says , as if were, of that final benefit.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Thy tongue some say of breeding breathes.
  • Tried quality; temper; proof.
  • * Spenser
  • He found a sword of better say .
  • Essay; trial; attempt.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Statistics

    *

    talk

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A conversation or discussion.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.
  • A lecture.
  • (preceded by the) A major topic of social discussion.
  • (not preceded by an article) Empty boasting, promises or claims.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * all talk * baby talk * betalk * big talk * boy talk * chalk talk/chalk and talk * cross talk/crosstalk * dirty talk * girl talk * happy talk * idle talk * man talk * peace talk * pep talk * pillow talk * self-talk * shop talk * side talk * sleep talk * small talk * table talk * talk battery * talk bomb * talk is cheap * talk of the town * talk page * talk radio * talk show * talk the talk * talkback * talkie * walk and talk * walk the talk * walkie-talkie

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To communicate, usually by means of speech.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you.
  • * , chapter=4
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Then he commenced to talk', really '''talk'''. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He ' talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=5 citation , passage=Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.}}
  • (informal) To discuss.
  • (slang) To confess, especially implicating others.
  • To criticize someone for something of which one is guilty oneself.
  • To gossip; to create scandal.
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“

    Conjugation

    (en-conj-simple)

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Coordinate terms

    * listen

    Derived terms

    * bad-talk * double-talk * fast-talk * look who's talking * now you're talking * sleep-talk * sweet-talk * talk a blue streak * talk a mile a minute * talk about * talk around * talkative * talk back * talk cock * talk dirty * talk down * talker * talk in circles * talk into * talk like an apothecary * talk of * talk of the devil * talk one's way out of * talk out of turn * talk over * talk sense * talk shit/talk shite * talk shop * talk smack * talk someone's ear off * talk someone under the table * talk the talk * talk through one's hat * talk to the hand * talk trash * talk turkey * talk up * talky * trash-talk * you can talk

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----