'Talk to my hand' vs 'Speak to my hand'

[Olympian]

Hello,

I heard the phrase 'speak to my hand' on the comedy series 'Outsourced'. I know the phrase 'talk to the hand' (or talk to my hand). I think the joke here is that the person used 'speak' instead of 'talk'. But is it wrong?

Thank you

[bhaisahab]

Hello,

I heard the phrase 'speak to my hand' on the comedy series 'Outsourced'. I know the phrase 'talk to the hand' (or talk to my hand). I think the joke here is that the person used 'speak' instead of 'talk'. But is it wrong?

Thank you

It means nothing at all to me.

[SoothingDave]

Hello,

I heard the phrase 'speak to my hand' on the comedy series 'Outsourced'. I know the phrase 'talk to the hand' (or talk to my hand). I think the joke here is that the person used 'speak' instead of 'talk'. But is it wrong?

Thank you

It's not idiomatic, which is probably the point of the "joke." Foreigners mangling English is a low form of humor. Cheap laughs.

"Talk to the hand" is the expression.

[emsr2d2]

The accepted phrase, as far as I know, is "talk to the hand". I've never heard it used with "my" and as far as I'm concerned, "speak to the hand" isn't correct and it certainly isn't funny so I don't know why that would be a joke.

[Olympian]

The accepted phrase, as far as I know, is "talk to the hand". I've never heard it used with "my" and as far as I'm concerned, "speak to the hand" isn't correct and it certainly isn't funny so I don't know why that would be a joke.

@emsr2d2, thank you. I could be wrong about the "my". It might have been 'speak to the hand' in the series. The series 'Outsourced' is about American call center jobs being outsourced to India. So, there are many cultural and language misunderstandings causing humor, and this is one of them.

I am curious to know if 'talk to the hand' is used in the UK as well. Thank you.

[Tullia]

I am curious to know if 'talk to the hand' is used in the UK as well. Thank you.

Not much, no - and it's considered rather vulgar here, a sign of a poor education generally. I'd avoid it like the plague, and not just because it's so rude to the person to whom you are speaking !

[Olympian]

It's not idiomatic, which is probably the point of the "joke." Foreigners mangling English is a low form of humor. Cheap laughs.

"Talk to the hand" is the expression.

@SoothingDave, thank you. Some people here understand that series and some don't. But it looks like it ran for 2 yrs in the US (2010, 2011). I don't mind the foreigners mangling English part because it can really happen, but I find the Indian-American actors talking in put-on Indian accents as aiming for cheap laughs, not to mention the many inaccuracies (surprising that they did not consult someone from the huge Indian diaspora there). I am not sure if I can say - I find this disingenuous. (not sure if this is the right usage of the word 'disingenuous'). But I too find it funny, although there is nothing like British comedy for language related humor.

[Olympian]

Not much, no - and it's considered rather vulgar here, a sign of a poor education generally. I'd avoid it like the plague, and not just because it's so rude to the person to whom you are speaking !

@Tullia, thank you.

[SoothingDave]

@Tullia, thank you.

It's a rude expression in AmE, too.

[Olympian]

It's a rude expression in AmE, too.

@SoothingDave, thank you.