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English
Noun
happy talk (uncountable)
- (set phrase, hyphenated when used attributively) Lighthearted, pleasant conversation; upbeat banter; optimistic remarks.
1888, G. A. Henty, chapter 15, in In The Reign Of Terror:Dr. Sandwith soon afterwards ran out to the excited chattering group in the garden, and after a few minutes' happy talk with him, Harry spoke to him of the visitors.
1992 February 17, Maureen Dowd, “The 1992 Campaign”, in New York Times, retrieved 5 August 2014:"Maybe the public is waking up and getting skeptical about simple public relations, effortless, happy-talk rhetoric," he said.
1993 June 27, “Commentary: Suddenly, The Rah Rah President”, in Businessweek, retrieved 5 August 2014:Clinton's upbeat tone marked his passage from econo-pessimist to cheerleader. Some observers give new mediameister David R. Gergen, who learned happy talk at the knee of Ronald Reagan, credit for the shift.
2007 June 28, Holly Bailey, “To Be Perfectly Honest . . .”, in Newsweek, retrieved 5 August 2014:"Now have there been missteps? Of course." Among them, he admits, Dick Cheney's happy talk about the insurgency in Iraq being in its "last throes."
Usage notes
2007 February 8, Patricia Sullivan, “Frank N. Magid dies at 78, created news anchor "happy talk"”, in Washington Post, retrieved 5 August 2014:"Action News" and its rival, "Eyewitness News," demonstrated both the untapped possibilities of the medium and the opportunity to devolve into "happy talk" between serious segments.
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