Please give an example. I don't think i've heard the former, and the latter doesn't sound like it makes a difference.
Of course, if i wasn't running out in a minute, i would likely take more time to understand. :)
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"He will speak to the budget deficit" is a horrible neologism, thought by the perpetrator to mean "speak ABOUT".
"I want to speak with you privately". No you don't. You speak with your mouth and larynx. Sometimes people speak with passion. But you speak TO a person or group of people.
"doesn't sound like it makes a difference" - none of them do to people who abuse the language. But to those of us who try not to, it makes a difference.
BTW, s/speak/talk/g is just the same in the blunders and corrections I've given.
Regards,
John Davies
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I'm not a native speaker, but this "to" thing might come from speaking "to the point". As for speak/talk "with" someone, probably the speaker wants to create an impression of wanting a dialogue ("to discuss" comes to mind). Or - he is german :-)
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For to/about, i'm not convinced, but it's a good point nonetheless. For with/to, a quick search found it to be a preference. The same seems to be true for "inside" and "inside of" (which sounds akin to "between" and "in between".) In the case of PERL/Perl, that seems specific to writing.
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