Tell me dear pedants - I don't like " speak to". Why?

[OtterInaSkoda]

As the title says, really.

Why doesn't it sound right to me when someone says "I'll speak to Persephone", as opposed to "I'll talk to Persephone"?

What is the difference between speaking and talking? Is it all in my head (the difference, not the talking)?

I don't think there's much difference, and they can be interchangeable in many cases, unlike say speak and tell.
Maybe the idea of "speak" is connected in some way to "speech" and is therefore more formal? Whereas talk gives the idea of interaction with another person? On an equal footing, while "speak" to someone infers you speak, they listen.

Waffle waffle.

Not sure. Interesting though, I will ask my friend Mrs Grammar when I next email her!

Does "speak with" also bother you?

Agree with Bucharest that it has a slightly more formal ring to it than "talk".

To me it has connotations of sternness - perhaps the housekeeper speaking to the chambermaid about her slovenly ways.

'Speak with' sounds American, or management-speaky.

For if you 'speak to' someone it implies the action of opening your mouth and saying words, whereas 'talk to' someone has connotations of an actual conversation. In the first you don't really care what the other person has to say but in the second that's the whole point.

I meant 'for me if..'. Oops.

I agree, that "speak to" implies that you are the dominant person in the relationship, whereas "talk to" is more neutral.

I think it's a formality thing. If you break it down into its corresponding nouns you have speech and talk which makes the subtle difference between the two a little sharper. To speak implies more of a use of language on its own without an object or participant to relate it to. You could give a speech for example and it not involve the other person's input but to talk implies an interaction. It's not that simple of course but I can hear the slight difference. You can speak a language for example but not talk it. Because talk is interacting with somebody while speak is just using a linguistic medium. I'm over-simplifying ridiculously.

I suppose it's the difference between hearing and listening. If I told you I could hear dd babbling it's different to me listening to it.

I think you like talk to because it implies a joint experience, speak to removes the interaction.

Yes, yes, yes!

It's all about there being a dialogue. Thank you - I just couldn't put my finger on why it so often sounds wrong to me.

This also explains why speak with sounds better than speak to.

Oh Bucharest - how the mighty are fallen! Did you mean to write "infers" when you meant "implies"? Sorry to point it out but it is just one of those pet hates we all seem to have - you will probably say that one of yours is people who do what I am doing but my defence, or at least plea in mitigation, is that this is Pedants' Corner.

Just testing!

Did I pass?

in the way op is refering to it doesn't bother me. i thought it was going to be about that awful turn of management-speak when it's used about issues. eg, on discovering that sales of tissues are falling "This speaks to people's unease about using too much paper." makes me want to slam down my coffee cup, pick up my files, and storm out of the meeting. (not that I go to meetings about tissue sales).