backtalk

English

Etymology

From back +‎ talk.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bæk.tɔːk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bæk.tɔk/

Noun

backtalk (uncountable)

1. Verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response.

   Don't give me any backtalk; just go clean your room.

   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     He scratched his head. "Well, damn me," said he. "I never thought I would take orders from a Chink, but he says 'hist!' and by crums you've got to hist and no back talk either."

   • 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 156:

     "Squalled at me that she owned the business and that she wouldn't take any back talk from me and that the piece wasn't for sale. What could I do?"

Synonyms

• (verbal impudence or argument): backchat (UK), derision, lip, cheek, sass, rebuttal

Related terms

• backchat (UK)
• talkback (noun)
• talk back (verb)

Translations

verbal impudence or argument

Bulgarian: дързък отговор m (dǎrzǎk otgovor), остроумно възраже́ние n (ostroumno vǎzražénie) Chinese: Cantonese: 駁嘴 / 驳嘴 (bok3 zeoi2) Dutch: tegenspraak (nl) Esperanto: kontraŭparolo Finnish: suunsoitto (fi) French: contradiction (fr) f, protestation (fr) f, réponse (fr) f German: Widerworte (de) n pl Irish: gearr-aighneas m, gearrchaint f, seanchaint f, aibéil chainte f Russian: де́рзкий отве́т m (dérzkij otvét), ре́зкое возраже́ние n (rézkoje vozražénije), препира́тельство (ru) n (prepirátelʹstvo), пререка́ния (ru) n pl (prerekánija)

Verb

backtalk (third-person singular simple present backtalks, present participle backtalking, simple past and past participle backtalked)

1. (transitive) To respond to in an aggressively disputatious, often sarcastic or insolent manner.

   Peter was sent to detention for backtalking the teacher.

Synonyms

(disputatively or sarcastically respond):

• backchat (UK)
• mouth off
• sass
• talk back

Derived terms

• backtalker

Translations

disputatively or sarcastically respond

Dutch: tegenspreken (nl) Esperanto: kontraŭdiri, protesti Finnish: soittaa suutaan French: contredire (fr), protester (fr), répondre (fr) Maori: toi, toitoi Quechua: kutipakuy Russian: пререка́ться (ru) impf (prerekátʹsja), препира́ться (ru) impf (prepirátʹsja)

Anagrams

• talk back, talkback