to talk to a wall
2
8.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
hablar con una pared
- Sure, we should probably be pointing these things out daily, but you just get hoarse talking to a wall.
They're so immature and it's like talking to a wall.
- They're so immature and it's like talking to a wall.
Examples
-
Go talk to a wall somewhere; you will have the same effect.
Blog text (12) -
But it was like talking to a wall.
Fiction book (1999) -
Am I talking to a wall? It figures.
Fiction book (1998) -
Really, it's like talking to a wall.
Blog text (4) -
It's like talking to a wall!
Blog text (29) -
It's like talking to a wall, you know what I'm saying?
Fiction book (1999) -
A lot of these people are idiots, and you could be talking to a wall.
Blog text (23) -
It was like talking to a wall.
Fiction book (1992) -
This post is advice for POC to let them know that if they feel their efforts are being wasted, they have no obligation to keep talking to a wall.
Blog text (34) -
When he's distracted, it's like I'm talking to a wall during our conversations.
Synonyms
1
7.0
To try to speak to someone who will not listen or answer
Antonyms
How Responsive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'attempt to communicate with someone who does not respond' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'talk' (to speak) with 'wall' (an inanimate barrier) — speaking to a wall evokes addressing something that cannot reply. The metaphor of a wall as an unresponsive barrier is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the intended sense.
Etymology
Talk to a wall comes from the simple image of a person saying something to a silent wall that cannot answer. So when someone ignores you or 'does not respond' and your words have no effect, you say you are talking to a wall.