talk cock

verb

To talk nonsense.

OriginHokkien 講𡳞鳥話 /讲𡳞鸟话 →
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Meanings

verbtalk cock (third-person singular simple present talks cock, present participle talking cock, simple past and past participle talked cock)

present singular third person talks cock · participle present talking cock · participle past talked cock · past talked cock

  1. MalaysiaSingaporeinformalTo talk nonsense.

    It was at this Parliament sitting, during an intense 40-minute exchange between Ling How Doong and Lee Hsien Loong, that Ling uttered the phrase "Don't talk cock," which became famous for all the wrong reasons in the annals of Singaporean parliamentary history.

    2019, Loke Hoe Yeong, “14: Regrouping”, in The First Wave
  2. SingaporeinformalTo engage in idle chatter.

Origin

  1. Hokkien講𡳞鳥話 /讲𡳞鸟话
  2. Englishtalk cock

Either a calque of Hokkien 講𡳞鳥話 /讲𡳞鸟话 (kóng lān-chiáu-ōe), from 講話／讲话 (kóng-ōe, “talk”) + 𡳞鳥／𡳞鸟 (lān-chiáu, “cock (penis)”), or influenced by the English phrase cock-and-bull story.

More words from Hokkien

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

talk cock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20cock

MLA

“talk cock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20cock. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “talk cock,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20cock.

Source: talk cock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.