oratoria

"Non ha peli sulla lingua."

He/she doesn't mince words. (Literally: He/she doesn't have hairs on his/her tongue.)

Dice sempre quello che pensa, non ha peli sulla lingua. (He always says what he thinks, he doesn't mince words.)

"Essere un fiume in piena."

To be a chatterbox, to talk a lot and quickly. (Literally: To be a river in flood.)

Quando inizia a raccontare le sue vacanze, diventa un fiume in piena. (When she starts talking about her holidays, she becomes a chatterbox.)

"Avere la parlantina sciolta."

To have a silver tongue, to be articulate and good at speaking. (Literally: To have a loose way of speaking.)

Il nuovo venditore ha una parlantina sciolta, convince tutti. (The new salesman has a silver tongue, he convinces everyone.)

"Parlare a vanvera."

To talk nonsense, to talk without thinking. (Literally: To speak to the wind.)

Non ascoltarlo, parla sempre a vanvera. (Don't listen to him, he always talks nonsense.)

"Non proferire parola."

To not say a word, to remain silent. (Literally: To not utter a word.)

Dopo la discussione, non proferì parola per ore. (After the discussion, he didn't say a word for hours.)

"Avere il dono dell'eloquenza."

To have the gift of eloquence. (Literally: To have the gift of eloquence.)

Il suo discorso era così convincente, ha proprio il dono dell'eloquenza. (His speech was so convincing, he really has the gift of eloquence.)

"Masticare le parole."

To mumble, to speak indistinctly. (Literally: To chew words.)

Parla più forte, stai masticando le parole! (Speak louder, you're mumbling!)

"Andare per le lunghe."

To drag on, to be lengthy (often used for speeches or discussions). (Literally: To go for the long ones.)

La riunione è andata per le lunghe, non finiva mai. (The meeting dragged on, it never ended.)

"Tagliare corto."

To cut short, to get to the point. (Literally: To cut short.)

Ho dovuto tagliare corto il discorso perché non c'era tempo. (I had to cut the speech short because there wasn't time.)

"Parlare come un libro stampato."

To speak very formally or perfectly, sometimes to the point of being artificial. (Literally: To speak like a printed book.)

Il professore parla come un libro stampato, ma non si capisce nulla. (The professor speaks like a printed book, but you can't understand anything.)