to talk turkey
6
7.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
hablar en serio
- I suppose since you're here and I'm here, it's time for you and I to talk turkey.
- let's talk turkey
- ready to talk turkey
- time to talk turkey
Examples
-
So let's talk turkey, hey?
Fiction book (1992) -
Ben, let's talk turkey.
-
What do you say we talk turkey?
-
Now they say that they are willing to "talk turkey," but I will believe it when I see it!
Blog text (27) -
Can you believe it's time to talk turkey already?
Blog text (9) -
Fred, we got to talk turkey.
Fiction book (1994) -
Good morning, and thanks for talking turkey with us, Demi!
Blog text (33) -
Let's talk turkey here.
-
Let's talk turkey.
-
If you want to reach an agreement, we need to talk turkey about the details.
Synonyms
801
3.7
Try to reach an agreement by talking, often about business terms
66
3.2
Discuss something carefully with someone before deciding
Talk about a problem to make things clear and stop misunderstandings
Antonyms
How Direct
- Formal
801
3.7
- Informal
6
7.0
∞
1.6
∞
1.0
- Informal
269
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
talks + turkey
The meaning 'to discuss serious matters directly' cannot be derived from the literal constituents: 'talk' is transparent but 'turkey' has no obvious connection to seriousness, and the phrase is historically idiomatic. A B1 learner who knows the words 'talk' and 'turkey' would not predict this meaning without prior exposure, and many languages use different, non-literal expressions for the same concept, so it is opaque.
Etymology
Talk turkey may come from early American markets where buyers and sellers spoke plainly while agreeing on the price of a real turkey. So today talk turkey means 'to discuss serious matters directly'.