Why do so many people speak 'to' topics rather than 'on' or 'about' them? Is this a recent phenomenon? [closed]
"I will speak to that later." It seems to be most common in lecture theatres. Surely the preposition 'to' can only accurately refer to the hearer in this context. The topic itself is not the recipient. One may speak 'about' a topic or 'on the subject of' something or even 'around' it. They may 'touch upon' it but not speak 'to' it. Unless they are 'referring' to it... Have I answered my own question? Can speak replace 'refer'? One may refer people to topics. Can one say, 'I will speak to you to that later?' Can one speak people to a subject? I don't think so.
I really think there are so many other options that 'to' should not be one. When someone says, 'I will speak to that', I feel that it makes the listener rather unnecessary.
The Oxford English Dictionary has references to such a sense of the phrasal verb to speak to going back as far as 1610. It is listed as sense 5.
- To treat of or deal with, to discuss or comment on, (a subject) in speech or writing.
1610 J. Dove Advt. Seminaries 42, I desire them therefore..to speake to these foure points.
1637 P. Heylyn Briefe Answer Burton 78 For your charges,..I meane to take them..in order, and speake as briefely to them, as you would desire.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. vi. §4 Though it be a subject little spoken to either by Jewish or Christian Writers.
1706 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels III. 555 Part of this Scripture hath already been spoken to.
1735 Swift Let. to Middleton in Wks. IV. 186 A Lawyer who speaks to a Cause, when the Matter hath been almost exhausted by those who spoke before.
1778 Earl of Malmesbury Diaries & Corr. I. 166 Unprepared as he was for such a proposition, he could not, he said, off-hand, speak to it accurately.
1869 Daily News 28 Apr. The report..was spoken to by the Most Rev. Chairman..and the Bishop of Derry.
1880 Daily News 19 Mar. 2/3, I wish to call your attention..to..that allegation, and I shall endeavour to speak to it.
I think it refers to the idiomatic usage of speak to:
To address some topic:
- The mayor spoke to the issue of tax increases.
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs)
also, speak to something:
[for something] to address, indicate, or signal something.
This event speaks to the need for good communication.
Your present state of employment speaks to your need for a better education.
(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)
Thus usage is not very recent, Ngram shows usage of "speak to that issue" at least from the '60s but the expression is older than that.