The root loqu and its variant locut mean “talk.” This podcast will help you “talk” eloquently with admirable elocution as words comprised of the roots loqu and locut begin to roll off your tongue!
Do you have a friend who is loquacious, “talking” seemingly ceaselessly? Phone companies love those who possess a great deal of loquacity, for their “talkativeness” earns them quite a bit of money. Is that loquacious friend a ventriloquist, able to throw his “talking” so that it appears to come out of someone else’s mouth? And does it ever seem that this loquacious friend is often performing a soliloquy, “talking” all by himself because he does not wait for replies, jabbering on and on and on … and on?
Businesses often hold colloquys or formal “talks” when undergoing negotiations. When making big sales, businesses hope that their marketers are eloquent in their presentations, “talking” beautifully in an elegant and expressive way in order to persuade their clients to buy their products. There is a fine line, however, between eloquence and grandiloquence, that is, highly formal, exaggerated “talk” which often seems both silly and hollow because it is used to appear impressive and important—most clients won’t fall for this kind of marketing shenanigan!
A variant form of the root loqu is locut, which also means “talk.” An interlocutor is a person with whom you are “talking.” If you ask a question of your interlocutor and she doesn’t want to answer directly, she might be practicing circumlocution, a way of “talking” about something that uses too many words, especially in order to avoid stating the true meaning clearly. Or perhaps your interlocutor is simply into elocution, “talking” in a beautiful and expressive way, and you love to listen to her entrancing voice!
Enough “talking” of loqu and locut! You can now be “talking” with confidence not “balking” with diffidence when encountering these words that “talk” to you!
- loquacious: of “talking” a lot
- loquacity: action of “talking” a lot
- ventriloquist: one who throws her “talking” to another
- soliloquy: a “talking” by oneself
- colloquy: a formal “talking”
- eloquent: beautifully expressive “talking”
- grandiloquent: of overblown and exaggerated “talking”
- interlocutor: a person who “talks” with another in a conversation
- circumlocution: of “talking” round and round in circles
- elocution: act of “talking” beautifully