speak down to

Idioms  

1. see talk down to.

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Example Sentences

"Political figures tend to speak down to us - but he did not. He paid attention to us. That's why young people listened to him."

From BBC

Standing at more than 6ft tall, many people referred to him as ‘Big Ken’ but he did not speak down to the audience, he spoke in their language and was respected for that.

From BBC

“It was a beautiful experience for me,” she said, recalling her grandmother leading dancers in celebration of her transition into womanhood, and being told “that nobody’s ever going to speak down to you. You’ve now become this woman.”

From New York Times

“They allowed the audience to lean in and didn’t speak down to them. Today, that’s been relegated to kids’ animation, as opposed to the transcendent live-action family films we grew up with, which now don’t really exist.”

From The Guardian

For he has made a special that works hard to not condescend or speak down to children, sometimes to a fault.

From New York Times