Smooth talk

In many of the “old” movies the dashing salesman, a/k/a Cary Grant, smoothtalks and coyly charms the receptionist to do his bidding.

But that night, in the autumn dusk, surrounded by the buzz of vapor lights and a haze of smoke, I saw my friend John suddenly on the other side, left ear newly pierced, joint in hand, and I felt betrayed. He smiled and smoothtalked, “Hey, man, [something about the show].”

After smoothtalking some Air Canada reps at the gate, I got bumped up to first class.

The play presents a kind of war of different languages: office jargon; franglais marketing jargon; old-fashioned academic language; new media slang; jazzmen’s roughtalk; salesmen’s smoothtalk; high-finance talk, etc.

Boston sportswriters were similarly taken. They were used to dealing with either the taciturn Collins or the smoothtalk of Joe Cronin.

Unprepared for the “depths of their skullduggery,” their bald-faced prevarications and smoothtalk, he’s gulled and fleeced, although still enough a man of the frontier to take back his losings at gunpoint.