talk turkey
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tur·key
(tûr′kē)n. pl. tur·keys
Idiom: 1.
a. A large North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that has brownish plumage and a bare wattled head and neck and is widely domesticated for food.
b. The flesh of this bird, used as food.
2. A related bird (Meleagris ocelatta syn. Agriocharis ocellata) of Mexico and Central America, brilliantly colored and having eyelike spots on its tail.
3. Informal
a. A person considered inept or undesirable.
b. A failure, especially a failed theatrical production or movie.
4. Sports Three consecutive strikes in bowling.
talk turkey Informal
To speak frankly about the basic facts of a matter.
[After Turkey from a confusion with the guinea fowl, once believed to have originated in Turkish territory.]
Tur·key
(tûr′kē) A country of southwest Asia and southeast Europe between the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The region was dominated by many ancient civilizations and peoples, among them the Hittites (1800 bc), the Greeks (8th century bc), and the Persians (6th century bc), and in ad 395 it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The area was conquered by the Ottoman Turks between the 13th and 15th centuries and remained the core of the Ottoman Empire for more than 600 years. Its modern history dates to the rise of the Young Turks (after 1908) and the collapse of the empire in 1918. Under the leadership of Kemal Atatürk, a republic was proclaimed in 1923. Ankara is the capital and Istanbul the largest city.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
talk turkey
To discuss something in a direct way; from turkey hunters imitating the birds’ sounds in order to lure them.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
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| Verb | 1. | talk turkey - discuss frankly, often in a business context |
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