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Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Posted by ESC on September 01, 2001

In Reply to: Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk posted by Greg Bell on September 01, 2001

: I have always heard this phrase as:" You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk". Put this way, it makes some logical sense to me. Have had a running disagreement with a friend who claims the correct phrase is:" walk the talk" This seems to me to be a shortened version of the original phrase that has become popular with the management consultant set. Any information on origin, derivation, etc. would be appreciated.

Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk. It means: talk is cheap, but can you follow through with action? It is similiar to: don't let your mouth write a check that your a** can't cash. Or (from the Baretta theme), don't do the crime if you can't do the time. I'll post again if I find more about the talk/walk origin. I've heard a variation used in a blues song, the singer talking about a girl that "talks that talk and walks that walk."

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