to talk the talk
13
7.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
hablar pero no actuar
- Anybody can talk the talk, but I can walk it.
- just talk the talk
- know how to talk the talk
- people who talk the talk
They, as we say, don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk.
- They, as we say, don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk.
- People that just can change their opinion or talk the talk, but not walk the walk.
- It was a young guy and he could talk the talk, but he could not walk the walk.
- And so you're the dude that walks the walk and talks the talk.
- But what we have to make sure is that we're actually walking the walk and not talking the talk.
- And so even though we talk the talk about prevention is everything, we don't really give physicians the tools to do much about it.
- I try not to just talk the talk, but to walk the walk and to show you guys that, you know, I can be out here wearing tank tops and shorts and stuff.
Examples
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Yeah, I talk the talk and I walk the walk
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You wanna walk the walk, you gotta talk the talk, or no one will take you seriously.
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People that just can change their opinion or talk the talk, but not walk the walk.
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Who better to talk the talk?
Academic text (2004) -
Before you can walk the walk, you gotta talk the talk.
Blog text (26) -
I can talk the talk, but am I walking the walk effectively as an example for them?
Blog text (13) -
They, as we say, don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk.
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Because they didn't just talk the talk, they really did walk the walk.
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A Message to Sudanese: You have to talk the talk before walking the walk.
Blog text (32) -
It's easy to talk the talk, but you must also deliver results to earn respect.
Synonyms
8
7.9
To speak confidently about what you can do without proving it
8
7.8
To say you are more important or successful than you really are
To say false or exaggerated things to make others believe you
Antonyms
How Convincing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally repeats 'talk', so a learner who knows 'talk' can infer it involves speaking and likely speaking in a particular way; the basic idea of 'speaking convincingly' is partially derivable from the constituents. However, the evaluative nuance—especially the contrast with actually doing something (as in 'talk the talk but not walk the walk') and the idiomatic implication of credibility vs. action—is not fully predictable without exposure, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom talk the talk creates a picture of someone who can talk — they use confident words and promises but do not do the work. So, it means 'to speak convincingly without actually acting'.