[taking pictures]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} To use a radar-operated speed indicator in order to enforce the 55 MPH speed limit. •/The Smokeys are taking pictures!/

[tale] See: TELL TALES OUT OF SCHOOL.

[talent scout]{n. phr.} A person employed by a large organization to seek out promising and gifted individuals. •/Gordon has been working as a talent scout for a television program./ Compare: HEAD HUNTING(2).

[talent show]{n.} An entertainment in which new entertainers try to win a prize. •/Mary won the talent show by her dancing./ •/The people liked Bill’s singing in the talent show./

[talk] See: DOUBLE-TALK, PEP TALK, SALES TALK, SWEET TALK.

[talk a blue streak]{v. phr.}, {informal} To talk on and on, usually very fast. •/Sue is a nice girl but after one drink she talks a blue streak and won’t stop./

[talk back] also [answer back] {v.} {informal} To answer rudely; reply in a disrespectful way; be fresh. •/When the teacher told the boy to sit down, he talked back to her and said she couldn’t make him./ •/Mary talked back when her mother told her to stop watching television; she said, "I don’t have to if I don’t want to."/ •/Russell was going somewhere with some bad boys, when his father told him it was wrong, Russell answered him back, "Mind your own business."/

[talk big]{v.}, {informal} To talk boastfully; brag. •/He talks big about his pitching, but he hasn’t won a game./

[talk down]{v.} 1. To make (someone) silent by talking louder or longer. •/Sue tried to give her ideas, but the other girls talked her down./ Compare: SHOUT DOWN(2). To use words or ideas that are too easy. •/The speaker talked down to the students, and they were bored./

[talking book]{n.} A book recorded by voice on phonograph records for blind people. •/Billy, who was blind, learned history from a talking book./

[talking point]{n.} Something good about a person or thing that can be talked about in selling it. •/The streamlined shape of the car was one of its talking points./ •/John tried to get Mary to date Bill. One of his talking points was that Bill was captain of the football team./

[talk in circles]{v. phr.} To waste time by saying words that don’t mean very much. •/After three hours at the negotiating table, the parties decided to call it quits because they realized that they had been talking in circles./

[talk into]{v.} 1. To get (someone) to agree to; make (someone) decide on (doing something) by talking; persuade to. — Used with a verbal noun. •/Bob talked us into walking home with him./ Compare: TALK OVER(2). Contrast TALK OUT OF. 2. To cause to be in or to get into by talking. •/You talked us into this mess. Now get us out!/ •/Mr. Jones lost the customer in his store by arguing with him./ •/"You’ll talk us into the poor house yet!" said Mrs. Jones./ Contrast: TALK OUT OF.

[talk of the town]{n. phr.} Something that has become so popular or prominent that everyone is discussing it. •/Even after three decades, Picasso’s famous metal statue is still the talk of the town in Chicago./

[talk out]{v.} To talk all about and leave nothing out; discuss until everything is agreed on; settle. •/After their quarrel, Jill and John talked things out and reached full agreement./

[talk out of]{v.} 1. To persuade not to; make agree or decide not to. — Used with a verbal noun. •/Mary’s mother talked her out of quitting school./ Contrast: TALK INTO. 2. To allow to go or get out by talking; let escape by talking. •/Johnny is good at talking his way out of trouble./ Contrast: TALK INTO.

[talk out of turn] See: SPEAK OUT OF TURN.

[talk over]{v.} 1. To talk together about; try to agree about or decide by talking; discuss. •/Tom talked his plan over with his father before he bought the car./ •/The boys settled their argument by talking it over./ 2. To persuade; make agree or willing; talk and change the mind of. •/Fred is trying to talk Bill over to our side./ Compare: TALK INTO.

[talk rot]{v. phr.} To say silly things; talk nonsense. •/He’s talking rot when he says that our company is almost bankrupt./

[talk shop]{v. phr.}, {informal} To talk about things in your work or trade. •/Two chemists were talking shop, and I hardly understood a word they said./

[talk through one’s hat]{v. phr.}, {informal} To say something without knowing or understanding the facts; talk foolishly or ignorantly. •/John said that the earth is nearer the sun in summer, but the teacher said he was talking through his hat./

[talk turkey]{v. phr.}, {informal} To talk about something in a really businesslike way; talk with the aim of getting things done. •/Charles said, "Now, let’s talk turkey about the bus trip. The fact is, it will cost each student $1.50."/ •/The father always spoke gently to his son, but when the son broke the windshield of the car, the father talked turkey to him./

[talk up]{v.} 1. To speak in favor or support of. •/Let’s talk up the game and get a big crowd./ 2. To speak plainly or clearly. •/The teacher asked the student to talk up./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. 3. {informal} To say what you want or think; say what someone may not like. •/Talk up if you want more pie./ •/George isn’t afraid to talk up when he disagrees with the teacher./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. Compare: SPEAK OUT.

[tall order] See: LARGE ORDER.

[tall story] or [tale] {n. phr.} See: FISH STORY.

[tamper with]{v.} 1. To meddle with (something); handle ignorantly or foolishly. •/He tampered with the insides of his watch and ruined it./ 2. To secretly get someone to do or say wrong things, especially by giving him money, or by threatening to hurt him. •/A friend of the man being tried in court tampered with a witness./

[tank] See: THINK TANK.

[tan one’s hide]{v. phr.}, {informal} To give a beating to; spank hard. •/Bob’s father tanned his hide for staying out too late./

[tape] See: FRICTION TAPE, MASKING TAPE.

[taper down]{adj. phr.} To decrease; reduce. •/He has tapered down his drinking from three martinis to one beer a day./

[taper off]{v.} 1. To come to an end little by little; become smaller toward the end. •/The river tapers off here and becomes a brook./ 2. To stop a habit gradually; do something less and less often. •/Robert gave up smoking all at once instead of tapering off./ Contrast: COLD TURKEY.

[tar] See: BEAT THE --- OUT OF.

[tar and feather]{v.} To pour heated tar on and cover with feathers as a punishment. •/In the Old West bad men were sometimes tarred and feathered and driven out of town./

[task] See: TAKE TO TASK.

[taste] See: LEAVE A BAD TASTE IN ONE’S MOUTH.

[tat] See: TIT FOR TAT.

[tax trap]{n.}, {informal} Predicament in which taxpayers in middle-income brackets are required to pay steeply progressive rates of taxation as their earnings rise with inflation but their personal exemptions remain fixed, resulting in a loss of real disposable income. •/Everybody in my neighborhood has been caught in a tax trap./

[T-bone steak]{n.} A steak with a bone in it which looks like a "T". •/On Jim’s birthday we had T-bone steak for supper./