Reader's question:

Talk the Walk Brazil, which just won the 2016 Olympics, wants to be a global power. So why won't it act like one? Could you explain “talk the walk”?

My comments:

Professional boxers are often seen to promote their upcoming fights by talking big, that is, by bragging about their own chances of winning and belittling opponents. That’s called “talk the talk”. Then they step into the ring to fight. That’s when they have to “walk the walk” - walk referring to the way boxers dance around in the ring.

If they fail to win the bout, they’re said to have failed to “walk the walk”.

Hence, people often ask those who talk a lot: “You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”

In the above example, the author simply asks Brazil to act upon its promises to be a global power.

In other words, do not talk - do something!

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn)，與本網(wǎng)立場(chǎng)無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國(guó)家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.