#582. Speech.—N. speech, faculty of speech; locution, talk, parlance, verbal intercourse, prolation[obs3], oral communication, word of mouth, parole, palaver, prattle; effusion. oration, recitation, delivery, say, speech, lecture, harangue, sermon, tirade, formal speech, peroration; speechifying; soliloquy &c. 589; allocution &c. 586; conversation &c. 588; salutatory; screed; valedictory [U.S.][U.S.]. oratory; elocution, eloquence; rhetoric, declamation; grandiloquence, multiloquence[obs3]; burst of eloquence; facundity[obs3]; flow of words, command of words, command of language; copia verborum[Lat]; power of speech, gift of the gab; usus loquendi[Lat]. speaker &c. v.; spokesman; prolocutor, interlocutor; mouthpiece, Hermes; orator, oratrix[obs3], oratress[obs3]; Demosthenes, Cicero; rhetorician; stump orator, platform orator; speechmaker, patterer[obs3], improvisatore[obs3]. V. speak of; say, utter, pronounce, deliver, give utterance to; utter forth, pour forth; breathe, let fall, come out with; rap out, blurt out have on one's lips; have at the end of one's tongue, have at the tip of one's tongue. break silence; open one's lips, open one's mouth; lift one's voice, raise one's voice; give the tongue, wag the tongue; talk, outspeak[obs3]; put in a word or two. hold forth; make a speech,.deliver a speech &c. n.; speechify, harangue, declaim, stump, flourish, recite, lecture, sermonize, discourse, be on one's legs; have one's say, say one's say; spout, rant, rave, vent one's fury, vent one's rage; expatiate &c. (speak at length) 573; speak one's mind, go on the stump, take the stump [U. S.]. soliloquize &c. 589; tell &c. (inform) 527; speak to &c. 586; talk together &c. 588. be eloquent &c. adj; have a tongue in one's head, have the gift of the gab &c. n. pass one's lips, escape one's lips; fall from the lips, fall from the mouth. Adj. speaking &c., spoken &c. v.; oral, lingual, phonetic, not written, unwritten, outspoken; eloquent, elocutionary; oratorical, rhetorical; declamatory; grandiloquent &c. 577; talkative &c. 584; Ciceronian, nuncupative, Tullian. Adv. orally &c. adj.; by word of mouth, viva voce, from the lips of. Phr. quoth he, said he &c.; "action is eloquence" [Coriolanus]; "pour the full tide of eloquence along" [Pope]; "she speaks poignards and every word stabs" [Much Ado About Nothing]; "speech is but broken light upon the depth of the unspoken [G. Eliot]; "to try thy eloquence now 'tis time [Antony and Cleopatra].
#583. [Imperfect Speech.] Stammering.—N. inarticulateness; stammering &c. v.; hesitation &c. v.; impediment in one's speech; titubancy[obs3], traulism|; whisper &c. (faint sound) 405; lisp, drawl, tardiloquence[obs3]; nasal tone, nasal accent; twang; falsetto &c. (want of voice) 581; broken voice, broken accents, broken sentences. brogue &c. 563; slip of the tongue, lapsus linouae [Lat]. V. stammer, stutter, hesitate, falter, hammer; balbutiate|, balbucinate|, haw, hum and haw, be unable to put two words together. mumble, mutter; maud|, mauder[obs3]; whisper &c. 405; mince, lisp; jabber, gibber; sputter, splutter; muffle, mump[obs3]; drawl, mouth; croak; speak thick, speak through the nose; snuffle, clip one's words; murder the language, murder the King's English, murder the Queen's English; mispronounce, missay[obs3]. Adj. stammering &c. v.; inarticulate, guttural, nasal; tremulous; affected. Adv. sotto voce &c. (faintly) 405[Lat].
#584. Loquacity.—N. loquacity, loquaciousness; talkativeness &c. adj.; garrulity; multiloquence[obs3], much speaking. jaw; gabble; jabber, chatter; prate, prattle, cackle, clack; twaddle, twattle, rattle; caquet[obs3], caquetterie[Fr]; blabber, bavardage[obs3], bibble-babble[obs3], gibble-gabble[obs3]; small talk &c. (converse) 588. fluency, flippancy, volubility, flowing, tongue; flow of words; flux de bouche[Fr], flux de mots[Fr]; copia verborum[Lat], cacoethes loquendi[Lat]; furor loquendi[Lat]; verbosity &c. (diffuseness) 573; gift of the gab &c. (eloquence) 582. talker; chatterer, chatterbox; babbler &c. v.; rattle; ranter; sermonizer, proser[obs3], driveler; blatherskite [U. S.]; gossip &c. (converse) 588; magpie, jay, parrot, poll, Babel; moulin a paroles[Fr].. V. be loquacious &c. adj.; talk glibly, pour forth, patter; prate, palaver, prose, chatter, prattle, clack, jabber, jaw; blather, blatter[obs3], blether[obs3]; rattle, rattle on; twaddle, twattle; babble, gabble; outtalk; talk oneself out of breath, talk oneself hoarse; expatiate &c. (speak at length) 573; gossip &c. (converse) 588; din in the ears &c. (repeat) 104; talk at random, talk nonsense &c. 497; be hoarse with talking. Adj. loquacious, talkative, garrulous, linguacious|, multiloquous[obs3]; largiloquent|; chattering &c. v.; chatty &c. (sociable) 892; declamatory &c. 582; open-mouthed. fluent, voluble, glib, flippant; long tongued, long winded &c. (diffuse) 573. Adv. trippingly on the tongue; glibly &c. adj.; off the reel. Phr. the tongue running fast, the tongue running loose, the tongue running on wheels; all talk and no cider; "foul whisperings are abroad" [Macbeth]; "what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!" [Tempest].
#585. Taciturnity.—N. silence, muteness, obmutescence[obs3]; taciturnity, pauciloquy[obs3], costiveness|, curtness; reserve, reticence &c. (concealment) 528. man of few words. V. be silent &c. adj.; keep silence, keep mum; hold one's tongue, hold one's peace, hold one's jaw; not speak. &c. 582; say nothing, keep one's counsel; seal the lips, close the lips, button the lips, zipper the lips, put a padlock on the lips, put a padlock on the mouth; put a bridle on one's tongue; bite one's tongue, keep one's tongue between one's teeth; make no sign, not let a word escape one; keep a secret &c. 528; not have a word to say; hush up, hush, lay the finger on the lips, place the finger on the lips; render mute &c. 581. stick in one's throat. Adj. silent, mute, mum; silent as a post, silent as a stone, silent as the grave &c. (still) 403; dumb &c. 581; unconversable[obs3]. taciturn, sparing of words; closetongued; costive|, inconversable|, curt; reserved; reticent &c. (concealing) 528. Int. shush! tush! silence! mum! hush! chut[obs3]! hist! tut! chup[obs3]! mum's the word; keep your mouth shut![vulgar]. Phr. cave quid dicis quando et cui[Lat]; volto sciolto i pensieri stretti[It].
#586. Allocution.—N. allocution, alloquy|, address; speech &c. 582;
apostrophe, interpellation, appeal, invocation, salutation; word in the
ear.
[Feigned dialogue] dialogism[obs3].
platform &c. 542; plank; audience &c. (interview) 588.
V. speak to, address, accost, make up to, apostrophize, appeal to,
invoke; ball, salute; call to, halloo.
take aside, take by the button; talk to in private.
lecture &c. (make a speech) 582.
Int. soho[obs3]! halloo! hey! hist!
#587. Response—N. &c., see Answer 462.
#588. Conversation.—N. conversation, interlocution; collocution[obs3], colloquy, converse, confabulation, talk, discourse, verbal intercourse; oral communication, commerce; dialogue, duologue, trialogue. causerie, chat, chitchat; small talk, table talk, teatable talk[obs3], town talk, village talk, idle talk; tattle, gossip, tittle-tattle; babble, babblement[obs3]; tripotage[obs3], cackle, prittle-prattle[obs3], cancan, on dit[Fr]; talk of the town, talk of the village. conference, parley, interview, audience, pourparler; tete-a-tete; reception, conversazione[It]; congress &c. (council) 696; powwow [U. S.]. hall of audience, durbar[obs3]. palaver, debate, logomachy[obs3], war of words. gossip, tattler; Paul Pry; tabby; chatterer &c. (loquacity) 584; interlocutor &c. (spokesman) 582; conversationist[obs3], dialogist[obs3]. "the feast of reason and the flow of soul" [Pope]; mollia tempora fandi[Lat][obs3]. V. talk together, converse, confabulate; hold on a conversation, carry on a conversation, join in a conversation, engage in a conversation; put in a word; shine in conversation; bandy words; parley; palaver; chat, gossip, tattle; prate &c. (loquacity) 584; powwow [U.S.].. discourse with, confer with, commune with, commerce with; hold converse, hold conference, hold intercourse; talk it over; be closeted with; talk with one in private, tete-a-tete. Adj. conversing &c. v.; interlocutory; conversational, conversable[obs3]; discursive, discoursive[obs3]; chatty &c. (sociable) 892; colloquial. Phr. "with thee conversing I forget all time" [Paradise Lost].
#589. Soliloquy.—N. soliloquy, monologue, apostrophe;
monology[obs3].
V. Soliloquize; say to oneself, talk to oneself; say aside, think
aloud, apostrophize.
Adj. soliloquizing &c. v.
Adv. aside.
3. Written Language
#590. Writing.—N. writing &c. v.; chirography, stelography[obs3], cerography[obs3]; penmanship, craftmanship[obs3]; quill driving; typewriting. writing, manuscript, MS., literae scriptae[Lat]; these presents. stroke of the pen, dash of the pen; coupe de plume; line; headline; pen and ink. letter &c. 561; uncial writing, cuneiform character, arrowhead, Ogham, Runes, hieroglyphic; contraction; Brahmi[obs3], Devanagari, Nagari; script. shorthand; stenography, brachygraphy[obs3], tachygraphy[obs3]; secret writing, writing in cipher; cryptography, stenography; phonography[obs3], pasigraphy[obs3], Polygraphy[obs3], logography[obs3]. copy; transcript, rescript; rough copy, fair copy; handwriting; signature, sign manual; autograph, monograph, holograph; hand, fist. calligraphy; good hand, running hand, flowing hand, cursive hand, legible hand, bold hand. cacography[obs3], griffonage[obs3], barbouillage[obs3]; bad hand, cramped hand, crabbed hand, illegible hand; scribble &c. v.; pattes de mouche[Fr]; ill-formed letters; pothooks and hangers. stationery; pen, quill, goose quill; pencil, style; paper, foolscap, parchment, vellum, papyrus, tablet, slate, marble, pillar, table; blackboard; ink bottle, ink horn, ink pot, ink stand, ink well; typewriter. transcription &c. (copy) 21; inscription &c. (record) 551; superscription &c. (indication) 550; graphology. composition, authorship; cacoethes scribendi[Lat]; graphoidea[obs3], graphomania[obs3]; phrenoia[obs3]. writer, scribe, amanuensis, scrivener, secretary, clerk, penman, copyist, transcriber, quill driver; stenographer, typewriter, typist; writer for the press &c. (author) 593. V. write, pen; copy, engross; write out, write out fair; transcribe; scribble, scrawl, scrabble, scratch; interline; stain paper; write down &c. (record) 551; sign &c. (attest) 467; enface[obs3]. compose, indite, draw up, draft, formulate; dictate; inscribe, throw on paper, dash off; manifold. take up the pen, take pen in hand; shed ink, spill ink, dip one's pen in ink. Adj. writing &c. v.; written &c. v.; in writing, in black and white; under one's hand. uncial, Runic, cuneiform, hieroglyphical[obs3]. Adv. currente calamo[Sp]; pen in hand. Phr. audacter et sincere[Lat]; le style est l'homme meme [Fr]; "nature's noblest gift - my gray goose quill" [Byron]; scribendi recte sapere et principium et fons [Lat][Horace]; "that mighty instrument of little men" [Byron]; "the pen became a clarion" [Longfellow].