“The Tobacco Company talks well. Representatives of the industry itself came forward to us and asked if we would go to the table...” –PBS article on the Tobacco industry.
“'Tis but a peevish boy, yet he talks well…”-Shakespeare.
“On good days, he does everything well: reads well, talks well, takes disappointment well.” -Chapter 2 of Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Finding a Diagnosis and Getting Help by Mitzi Waltz.
“She is short and round and talks well in class, pleasing the teacher...” –From John Updike’s book, Terrorist.
“It was an interesting hour. I was unable to get a word in; she talks well, but at length...” –Stephen Miller, from Yale University.
“He speaks well” or “He talks well”? Which is correct? One man says, “He speaks well”, but the other says both are. I agree with the latter. First, let us look at these two words, speak and talk.
Talk:
1. To articulate (words): The baby is talking sentences now.
2. To give expression to in words: talk treason.
3. To speak of or discuss (something): talk music; talk business;
4. To speak or know how to speak in (an idiom or language): talked French with the flight crew.
5. To gain, influence, or bring into a specified state by talking: talked me into coming; talked their way out of trouble.
6. To spend (a period of time) by or as if by talking: talked the evening away.
v. intr.
To converse by means of spoken language: We talked for hours. See synonyms at speak.
To articulate words: The baby can talk.
To imitate the sounds of human speech: The parrot talks.
Speak:
1. To utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation; talk.
2. To convey thoughts, opinions, or emotions orally.
3. To express oneself.
4. To be on speaking terms: They are no longer speaking.
5. To deliver an address or lecture: The mayor spoke at the rally.
6. To make a statement in writing: The biography speaks of great loneliness.
7. To act as spokesperson: spoke for the entire staff.
8. To convey a message by… and so on and so forth
v. intr.
To articulate in a speaking voice: spoke words of wisdom.
To converse in or be able to converse in (a language): speaks German.
To express aloud; tell: speak the truth.
To express in writing.
Nautical. To hail and communicate with (another vessel) at sea.
In a quicker sense, these words are synonyms. Synonyms are different words with similar or identical meanings and are interchangeable. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. That means, since these two words are synonyms, they are therefore interchangeable.
Interchangeable
1. To switch each of (two things) into the place of the other.
2. To give and receive mutually; exchange.
That means these two words can be switched around in an instant, without grammatical issues, though I do agree, “speaks,” sounds better… but that’s not the issue. The issue is that “talks” is correct, no matter how bad it sounds. It’s simply replacement.
“They held the criminal for 48 hours.” “He detained the criminal for 48 hours.”
“In less than 2 weeks, the German’s took Poland.” “In less than 2 weeks, the Germans captured Poland.”
“The teacher conversed with his students.” “The teacher chatted with his students.”
“They rescued the hostages.” “They recovered the hostages.”
“He discovered the remote under the couch.” “He found the remote under the couch.”
“He speaks well.” “He talks well.”
There’s no real difference. He can’t very well argue with the English language. He can’t argue with the man from Yale. He can’t argue with Shakespeare. He can’t argue with professional writers. One’s not correct, they both are. One may sound better to one’s ears, but that doesn’t make the other incorrect? I like “He threw the football.” over “He tossed the football.” but is either incorrect? No. They’re the same thing, they have the same grammatical standing, and though one may seem more formal, that doesn’t take away from any fact. Thank you.
That's my argument. I'd like you all to vote for the which is correct?
1. Both(My argument)
2. Just "He speaks well."(His argument)
3. Just "He talks well."
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