double-talk

Or dou·ble·talk

[duhb-uhl-tawk]

noun

1. speech using nonsense syllables along with words in a rapid patter.

2. deliberately evasive or ambiguous language.

   When you try to get a straight answer, he gives you double-talk.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in double-talk.

verb (used with object)

1. to accomplish or persuade by double-talk.

double talk

noun

1. rapid speech with a mixture of nonsense syllables and real words; gibberish

2. empty, deceptive, or ambiguous talk, esp by politicians

Other Word Forms

• double-talker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of double talk¹

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40

Idioms and Phrases

Meaningless speech, gibberish mixing real and invented words. For example, Some popular songs are actually based on double talk . [1930s]

Also, doublespeak . Deliberately ambiguous and evasive language. For example, I got tired of her double talk and demanded to know the true story , or His press secretary was very adept at doublespeak . This usage dates from the late 1940s, and the variant from about 1950.

Example Sentences

His double-talk and verbal whiplash were stunning in its ineffectiveness, and instead of paving a way forward, left a trail of smoke.

From Salon

He exposed double-talk, pointed out hypocrisy and could draw laughter with a wide-eyed look of incredulousness or fear.

From Seattle Times

Dressed up in an inexhaustible supply of euphemistic rhetoric and double-talk, such immoral policies are stunning to see in real time.

From Salon

If his pre-prison projects were almost entirely freestyled, these songs are more tightly written, honoring the fallen, indicting the double-talk of the industry, powered by the energy of a bowstring being pulled back for a half-decade.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, the orchestration of the House objections was a story of shrewd salesmanship and calculated double-talk, set against a backdrop of demographic change across the country that has widened the gulf between the parties.

From New York Times