speak to


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speak to

1. Literally, to communicate with someone or a group by speaking. George and I haven't been speaking to one another ever since our argument.
2. To address some topic or issue verbally, as in a speech or interview. The senator spoke to the need for bipartisan support if any meaningful tax reform were going to be possible.
3. To indicate or signal some topic or issue. The amount of respiratory problems present in this city's population speaks to the abysmal air quality here.
See also: speak

speak to someone

to talk to someone. I am angry with him and I refuse to speak to him. Were you speaking to me?
See also: speak

speak to something

[for something] to address, indicate, or signal something. This event speaks to the need for good communication. Your present state of employment speaks to your need for a better education.
See also: speak

speak to

v.
To address some topic: The mayor spoke to the issue of tax increases.
See also: speak
References in periodicals archive ?
They are encouraged to speak to the teacher and others in the class using the target language.
Foreign language education in post-colonial English speaking Caribbean
switch on) Black Speak to clearly and concisely communicate a "truth" regarding the conundrum faced by African-descent peoples simultaneously immersed in the clashing tides of American cultures to another or others conversant in the vernacular form.
Continuing to connect Black Speak with the dissemination of a "truth," the following excerpt from a 1997 program exemplifies how Oprah typicafly opens a show by invoking Black Speak to establish a familiar rapport with her audience.
She invokes Black Speak to engage the audience with humor in the first line.
Performing "truth": Black speech acts
Regardless of their title, one day, someone will ask most officers to formally speak to a group.
Adventures in public speaking: A guide for the beginning instructor or public speaker
Though he cannot speak to you with elegant words, he reveals to you the exquisite secret vision of his heart.
Fire alarm
International trade, to be successful, must speak the language of the consumer, because when you speak to them in English, you speak to their intellect, but when you speak in their native language you speak to their soul.
Learning languages
Though the catechism was written to speak to all Catholics, the English version violently contradicts its own teaching.
I'm not a man of God
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