6. talkactive

talkactive (adj.) ('TAW-kek-tiv): Inclined to express oneself using gestures rather than words.

A talkactive person is someone who dislikes using a formal language, and instead employs hand-motions and gestures to get a point across. Talkactive people firmly believe that if a picture speaks a thousand words, a gesture speaks well over a million. Their unwillingness to use verbal communication is often mistaken for lack of intelligence, and their wild gesticulation is often ridiculed by fans of wordplay.


Usage:

"Talkactive people raise their children to be seen and not heard."

"Giving random people on the street the finger does not make you talkactive."

"In terms of talkactiveness, that actor is a conversational wizard."


Etymology:

The first use of the word may have been a typo. On watching a mime for the first time, an 18th century reporter wrote in his weekly column in the Wordy Wanderer that "the talkactiveness (or lack thereof) of the actors was offset by the oddly colourful display of emotion in white and black". When questioned later, the reporter maintained that he had not used the word in error.

This did not, however, stop him from being fired from the paper. His entertainment column was later turned into the weekly horoscope.