talk sense

1. Speak rationally and coherently, as in Ranting and raving won't help; it's time we talked sense, or I wish you'd talk some sense into that son of yours. Shakespeare used this idiom in slightly different form in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2:1): “Believe it, Page, he speaks sense.”

Example Sentences

“Katabasis” is a dark academia fantasy where the protagonist — a psychologically wounded but talented student, lacking self-love, perspective or even just one friend to talk sense into her — journeys into hell to fetch the soul of a mentor she’s in thrall to … and may have killed.

From Los Angeles Times

When asked why he didn’t take the threat more seriously, Barr justified his response by saying, “At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be carried out, and you could talk sense into him.”

From Salon

“I found in his first term that the only way to really talk sense into him was to say, ‘This is … going to hurt your reelection chances,’” said Barr, a Trump appointee.

From Los Angeles Times

China's announcement came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron left China following meetings with senior leaders, including President Xi Jinping, where Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to Russia over the war in Ukraine.

From Reuters

On Thursday, Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to Russia over the war in Ukraine while von der Leyen said Xi expressed willingness to speak to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

From Reuters