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Talk:walk the walk

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Latest comment: 5 years ago by Tommy goodwalker in topic Wiktionary:Feedback

This has been bothering me for quite some time. It is idiotic to say "talk the talk" or "walk the walk" since the only version of the phrase that makes sense is "Walk the talk." This figuratively means that you do what you say. You take action (you walk) on what you say (your talk).

On the contrary, I believe that the original version was walk the walk and talk the talk from a book of that title (an ethnography of a drug abuse treatment facility) published in 1992 by Geoffrey R. Skoll, though the words were previously used in Skoll's 1991 dissertation. Please prove me wrong? Dbfirs 12:28, 2 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

anon comment

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The following comment was posted to the entry by an anon:

The above is a misinterpretation of the original idiom popularized through repetition by people who were either confused by the similar sounding words and failed to comprehend the meaning. To "walk the walk" means nothing, since it literally means to do what you do, whereas to "walk the talk" translates to do as you say by putting your words (your talk) into action (your walk).
Please see my comment above. Could it be that you are confused? Dbfirs 20:36, 4 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Wiktionary:Feedback

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You're both wrong. It's "walk 'the walk" as in you're saying all the right things "the talk", but do you do the right thing "the walk". There are lots of different walks, but do you walk the one that you talk about? Second, I don't know where it comes from but it's definitely been around longer than 1992. I know for a fact that the exact phrase is used in the Kubruck 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket". Earliest known occurence appears to be in an Ohio newspaper in 1921. Tommy goodwalker (talk) 07:47, 8 November 2019 (UTC)Reply