/ˈtɔːk ðə ˈhaɪnd ˈlɛɡz ɒf ə ˈdɒŋki/
English idiom, informal. To talk a lot, often without stopping.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use Talk the hind legs off a donkey
?
British and informal, said with a mix of amusement and exhaustion about someone who never stops talking. It’s nearly always with “could”: “She could talk the hind legs off a donkey.” Americans are more likely to say someone could “talk your ear off”.
Also said talk the hind leg off a donkey, talk the ears off a donkey
Talk the hind legs off a donkey
in real sentences
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Tom could talk the hind leg off a donkey.
Tatoeba, sentence by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Talk the hind legs off a donkey
come from?
English Wiktionary gives no origin and no date. The picture is pure exaggeration: someone talks so much that the poor animal’s leg falls off. Wiktionary lists other versions with the same idea, such as talking the ears off a donkey or the leg off an iron pot, which suggests the animal was never fixed.
Mistakes learners make with Talk the hind legs off a donkey
Learners use it for a single long conversation (“he talked the hind legs off a donkey yesterday”). It describes what a person is like, so the usual form is “could” plus the phrase.
Other English idioms like Talk the hind legs off a donkey
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?
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