I'm reading a book that was a translation to English from an original German text written only a few years ago. The translation has the phrase "talking of which", in the sense of "Talking of which, XYZ is also true". As a native English speaker, I have never once said "talking of which" and instead say it as "speaking of which". Is "talking of which" a bad translation, or is that phrasing used in other contexts?
asked Mar 10, 2021 at 15:06
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There's the problem of translating into not-your-mother tongue.– Yosef BaskinMar 10, 2021 at 15:26
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1Have you checked in a dictionary, eg Collins Cobuild? Compared Google ngrams? These indicate that 'talking of which' is used, acceptable, but a lot less commonly used than 'speaking of which'.– Edwin AshworthMar 10, 2021 at 15:34
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There's no doubt talking of which is very rare compared to speaking of which as an aid to discursive segueing into a closely-related subject. And until now I always thought it was invariably Speak of the Devil! to announce that someone being discussed "behind their back" has just joined a conversation. But apparently in British (not American) English, Talk of the Devil is in fact more common today.– FumbleFingersMar 10, 2021 at 15:59
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1 Answer
Speaking of which is common in American English. Talking of which is technically okay but sounds odd. ‘Talking’ usually pairs with ‘about’.