Silence speaks volumes

[bloodymeli]

Hi,

Does anybody know what is the origin of the expression "silence speaks volumes"?

Thanks!
Eli

[Toni Yim]

Hello Eli, I'm Toni, from HK, nice to meet you here ;)

I'm afraid I don't know what dose it (silence speaks volumes) mean.
But what I found another nice saying was 'silence is golden'.
Which means it is often best not to say anything

well, anyway, I hope I could have helped!

Do you want to be a friend with me? we can share our experiences anytime.

[BobK]

...
I'm afraid I don't know what dose it (silence speaks volumes) means.
...

Also, this is the second time I've seen 'dose' (not sure if it was you last time though) where the writer meant 'does' (/dʌz/)). I thought it was a typo then, but maybe I was wrong.

'Speaks volumes' (where 'volumes' = big books) means 'is very expressive'. As Toni said, 'silence is golden' is an idiom (meaning 'keeping quiet about something is often for the best' - another saying that you could use with this meaning is 'Least said, soonest mended'); so it doesn't mean the same as 'silence speaks volumes' - which I've never met.

What I have met is something very close to it, but with a possessive - example 'Your silence speaks volumes' (which means 'The fact that you're not saying anything tells me a lot'). What the possessive does is make the 'silence' specific, so it would be possible to say something like 'He didn't answer, and in this case silence spoke volumes'. But as I said, it's not an idiom I've met.

b

[pinkmast3ritza]

Hello Eli, I'm Toni, from HK, nice to meet you here ;)

I'm afraid I don't know what dose it (silence speaks volumes) mean.
But what I found another nice saying was 'silence is golden'.
Which means it is often best not to say anything

well, anyway, I hope I could have helped!

Do you want to be a friend with me? we can share our experiences anytime.

:))) Can i be your friend??PLEASEEE.I m dying to have someone to chat with in english:D.