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What is the difference between tell and talk?

tell | talk |

In transitive terms the difference between tell and talk

is that tell is to reveal while talk is to communicate, usually by means of speech.

In intransitive terms the difference between tell and talk

is that tell is to have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated while talk is to gossip; to create scandal.

tell

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ((etyl) telja). More at tale.

Verb

  • (lb) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
  • :
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • *:And in his lap a masse of coyne he told , / And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye / A couetous desire with his huge threasury.
  • *1875 , Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine :
  • *:Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral.
  • (lb) To narrate.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“
  • (lb) To convey by speech; to say.
  • :
  • *, chapter=4
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}
  • (lb) To instruct or inform.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) xii. 18
  • *:Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
  • (lb) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
  • :
  • *(Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
  • *:He told her not to be frightened.
  • *'>citation
  • *:Stability was restored, but once the re-entry propulsion was activated, the crew was told to prepare to come home before the end of their only day in orbit.
  • (lb) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
  • (lb) To reveal.
  • :
  • (lb) To be revealed.
  • *1990 , (Stephen Coonts), Under Siege, 1991 (Pocket Books) edition, ISBN 0671742949, p.409:
  • *:Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling . Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities.
  • (lb) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
  • :
  • *1859 (John Stuart Mill), (On Liberty)
  • *:Opinion ought [… to give] merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may holdkeeping nothing back which tells', or can be supposed to ' tell , in their favour.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=But England's superior fitness told in the second half, with Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton (two) going over for tries to secure a bonus-point win.}}
    Synonyms
    * (enumerate) count * (narrate) narrate, recount, relate
    Antonyms
    * (to instruct or inform) ask
    Derived terms
    * all told * tell against * tell all * tell-all * tell off * tell on * tell-tale / telltale * tell tales * tell tales out of school * teller

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
  • That which is told; tale; account.
  • * Walpole
  • I am at the end of my tell .
  • (internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
  • See also
    * dead giveaway

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaeology) A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
  • Verb

    (head)
  • 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 ----