Good grief, man, this must be another one of the corporate buzz phrases run amok.

Example: "James, can you speak to the diversified losses in the golf sector?"

Another example: "I'm sorry, Susan, perhaps Sally can speak to the issue."

Our current Presidential press secretary uses the phrase a lot, too. I won't try to imitate her here.

In short: "NO!" We don't speak to issues or events or circumstances. We speak to one another. We speak to our pets. Some of us speak to our houseplants. But we talk about issues or we address issues, but we surely don't speak to them. That's just stupid.

Where in the world did this goofiness come from?

"Hello pants. Hello lamp..."

"Hi Ren..."

"Good night moon"

Whether you are speaking to it or not, your phone is listening.

Hey, Siri… How did the Padres do today?

Another one of the many things in life that I ignore . As long as I understand what somebody is talking about , I'm not going to give it another thought .

I still speak to myself, but he's mean to me.

Speaking to things? Well I've been known to swear at a variety of things, like my car when its A/C cuts out or my wireless computer mouse when it freezes mid-move. Do those count?

Hello walls...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKfayfaqskM

Good one, Mr. V-Tail!

I remember an episode of Gilligan's Island in which Mrs Howell did the same thing.

 
"Speak into the mike, bitch"