Image via Wikipedia
Verbal or oral?
Verbal: adjective
- of someone - dealing with or using words, especially in contrast to things or
realities; using a lot of words; talkative, verbose; articulate; of or
pertaining to words; consisting or composed of words; of the nature of a word; in
Grammar - derived from a verb, of the
nature of a verb.
Oral: adjective - performed
with or by the mouth as the organ of eating and drinking; in Medication - taken
by mouth; involving such administration; uttered or communicated in spoken
words; conducted by word of mouth; spoken, verbal; delivered or transmitted
verbally; of or pertaining to the mouth, as a body part; sexual activity where
the genitals of one partner are stimulated by the mouth of the other,
cunnilingus and fellatio; in Psychoanalysis – relating to a supposed stage of
infantile psychosexual development, where the mouth is the main focus of energy
and feeling.
As you can see, Verbal can
refer to both written and spoken communication, but oral is more
useful for distinguishing the spoken word from the written.
'The
press secretary produced a verbal statement from the politician, in which he
attempted to explain, in as many polysyllabic words as he could devise, the steps
that had led to his fraudulent expenses claims.'
'Standing
on the steps of the cathedral, the bishop made an oral declaration of his
intent to root out child abuse by priests, which had been endemic in the parish
prior to his appointment.'
'Stanley
and Joyce were so committed to oral sex that they rarely achieved orgasm any
other way and therefore found it impossible to become parents.'
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