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Okay, I'm confused about something else. Recently I read something in which someone approvingly said, "He talks the talk and walks the walk."
Yet I have also heard this kind of approval expressed as, "He walks the talk."
Which is right? The latter makes more sense to me - seems to be saying, "He is a man of his word - his deeds match his promises."
But the former seems simply to praise someone for knowing how to speak the lingo (whichever kind of bafflegab you choose!) and walk in whatever is the current hip style...or something weird like that.
What do y'all think?
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think you're right on both counts; though I think people use the former and mean the latter.
and I really like the word bafflegab!
formerly known as etaoin...
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thanks etaoin! That was kinda what I figgered.....Maybe using the longer sentence is like using a $5 word where a 50-cent one would do? or like inserting an extra syllable into a word (shame on me, I saw the word for this practice in AWAD and I've forgotten it! fifty lashes with a wet noodle for me) or making up a word completely that never previously existed, such as "expiration" instead of "expiry" in front of the word "date" or (o horrendous world!) asking someone what his "busyness quotient" is. or maybe it's just a silly something that doesn't make any sense when you stop and think about it.... 
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Then there's he talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk.
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Then there's he talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk.
Which conjures up an image of a man sitting in an armchair by the fire, spinning tales of adventures he's never been on. (Or "on which he's never been," for Henry James sticklers!)
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Or He talks the talk, but can he walk the walk?
That's the usual place where I've seen the combination of talking and walking - in the negative, rather than the affirmative.
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enthusiast
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I haven't heard of "He walks the talk", but doesn't "He talks the talk and walks the walk" mean that the peron is excactly right for a certain job? Maybe the two have different meanings?
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its not so much they are exactly right for anything, its that they are as they claim to be... i don't claim to be as pure as the driven snow, (and i am not) but certainly, politiacian, and preachers in the US have tried to claim a moral high ground, but their personal lives are filled with examples of less than stellar behavior.
someone who walks the walk and talks the talk, is someone who, has high standards (but freely admits when he has failed) and when he has failed, he takes action to atone. (especially if he expects others to be accountable before they are forgiven)
we would all like people of high moral character to be in public office, but alas, we can only elect men and women, not angels. Men and woman have laspes, these can be forgiven, what is harder to forgive is a "do as i say, not as i do' attitude. (and politically, its death to be found holding a do as say, not as i do attitude!
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enthusiast
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and politically, its death to be found holding a do as say, not as i do attitude!
Not that it stops them. 
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It is nothing special to talk the talk. Indeed, it would be considered a negative unless you also walk the walk. *We usually use "he's all talk" to describe someone who talks themselves up (physically, morally, whatever) and the challenge is "yeah, but can you walk (the walk)". I assume "he walks the talk" is merely a contraction of the original quote and hence easier to use. To ttt and wtw is to back up ones claims with actions. The quote is usually applied only when the claims are outlandish, and hence the wtw is usually in the negative.
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hence the wtw is usually in the negative.
Yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for being much clearer than me!
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To ttt and wtw is to back up ones claims with actions. The quote is usually applied only when the claims are outlandish, and hence the wtw is usually in the negative.
Unnghhh....I don't understand! Have not heard it used in a negative context - only ever as a sign of approval, as in, "He's a good guy - he walks the talk." Seeking clarification....
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I'm not sure this will help, but. "He talks the talk" has this implied word: "He talks the (right) talk". Meaning he is at least saying that he knows what he's talking about, or that he can do the job. If someone "walks the walk", he is demonstrating that he can; making good on his claims, in other words: showing his capability.
I think positive or negative usage depends entirely on the situation. If, for ex., I gave out with all sorts of b.s. and then claimed that I was qualified to be the President of the United States, I imagine there would be many negatives uses of, "Yeah, but can she walk the walk?" People are expressing doubt about my capability. If I took charge of organizing a fund-raising dinner and it came off without a hitch, then people could say, "Yep, she can walk the walk, all right". Or possibly that I could walk the talk, which I agree must be a contraction.
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which I agree must be a contraction
Since many of us geographically-scattered AWADers haven't heard the contraction before ("He walks the talk") maybe it is only recently coined and popular where you live, mg...maybe it hasn't spread yet?
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I've only heard: "He talks the talk and walks the walk."
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Pooh-Bah
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In Management Consultant parlance "To walk the talk" means to practice what you preach. The expression originated in the USA, I suspect California (but I still love it), and has come over here for the delectation of us Brits.
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popular where you live, mg...
Actually I think dxb has the answer - coz I converse/write a lot with/to Britspeakers, so that's prolly where I heard it. Made sense to me in a way that "he talks the talk and walks the walk" doesn't.....To me, the former phrase means what dxb sez (and what I said in the original post), and the latter phrase is just confusing: he talks what talk? he walks what walk?
[/desperate attempt to clarify my own stance] (just as well - I didn't do a very good job of it, did I!)
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I didn't do a very good job of it, did I
Left me baffled. If you don't know what talk he talks how do you know what talk he walks?
There's gonna be some context here; this isn't the sort of thing somebody is just going to pop off with. Folks who use this phrase know what the walk and talk is referring to. To me, wtw & ttt means that the person referred to knows what he is doing and does it. Practice what you preach is more or less the same thing.
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he talks what talk? he walks what walk?
I think you need context for that. Say that the guy in question is some politician claiming to be able to fix healthcare in Canada. Then you ask yourself, "He talks the talk [of someone who can fix healthcare, he claims he can actually do something, makes it sound like he knows what he's talking about] but can he walk the walk [can he actually do it or is it all hot air, all just talk?]"
Or, with a non-negative example, you're watching a guy speak about child poverty and you know that he's been involved for 20 years in community-based organizations to help poor children. Then you say to your skeptical colleague: "He talks the talk [about fixing child poverty] and walks the walk [he has actually worked toward doing so]."
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Faldage and Bean, I take your point about context. However, Bean's examples still make me wonder why people don't just say, "He walks the talk," or "He doesn't walk the talk." The extra talk and extra walk don't make a helluva lot of sense to me - seem extraneous, like saying "each and every" (which nevertheless has a rhythm to it - possibly why people use the ttt & wtw forms). ttt & wtw just sounds funny to my ear, is all.
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Doc Comfort comes closest to the meaning as I understand it. If I bragged, for instance, that I would destroy the local street punk if he tried to push me around but then, when said punk relieved me of my wallet and spit into my face for good measure with me putting up not even the feeblest defense, an on-looker would rightly say "Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk." In other words, deeds speak louder than words. Another colorful expression that applies would be "Don't let your mouth write a check that your ass can't cash!"
Unrelated sidenote: The spell-check doesn't recognize the word "punk" and suggests I might mean "puns" instead. I've never been assaulted by street puns but, frankly, don't think I would mind it overly much.
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"each and every" (which nevertheless has a rhythm to it - possibly why people use the ttt & wtw forms)
Maybe that's it. I get the feeling the ttt & wtw form is older (only on the basis of having heard it plenty, and never having heard your form until earlier this week).
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