Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to deal with the boss, not an assistant.

1922		Illus. Police News 23 Mar. 4/4: ‘Did you tell the man in charge that you wanted speak to the driver and not to the oil rag?’ asked counsel.—Witness denied the suggestion [...] ‘Well, what is an oil rag?’ asked counsel.—‘It man who has charge of nothing [...] He is just there’.
[1958		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Borstal Boy 86: If I was afraid of the engine-driver, I was not afraid of the oil-rag].
1986		B. Geldof Is That It? 223: It was my first lesson in always going straight to the top. I had learned to speak to the engineer, and not be content with talking to his oily rag.
2002		Coachways N.Z. Ltd 🌐 • We provide punctual, safe limousine or coach transport with smart drivers. • We offer an instant response to your requests. • Telephones are answered 24 hours a day by the owners (speak to the butcher not the block).
2002		G. McCowie ‘Cow-orker’ Crankygoth 🌐 manager: ‘C-W? That sounds very dodgy.’ me: ‘We’re trying to spread the workload around a little.’ manager: ‘I don’t know, Graeme, we were expecting to see the butcher, not the block.’.

(US teen) a dismissive phrase: ‘don’t waste my time’; often ext. with because the face don’t understand or other vars.

1995		Eble Campus Sl. Apr.
1997–2000		Da Bomb 🌐 28: Talk to the hand (accompanied by the palm of hand in front of the person’s face): 1. Be quiet, shut up; I don’t want to hear it. Why don‘t you just talk to the hand 2. Because the face doesn’t understand. Talk to the hand.
2000		J.N. Franklin mail to ADS-L 🌐 7 Mar. Talk to the hand: It’s teen slang. You stick your hand out in the face of someone who is boring you or being unpleasant and say ‘Talk to the hand, ’cause the face ain’t listening.’ I’ve also heard ‘Talk to the hand, ’cause the face don’t understand.’ I guess I’ve heard it as just ‘Talk to the hand,’ too, but less often.
2005		L. Truss [bk title] Talk to the Hand.
2010		IOL News (Western Cape) 1 Nov. 🌐 ‘Talk to the hand cos the face is in Spain’ means ‘I am not listening’.
2014		Stormzy ‘Shut Up’ 🎵 All of my ex girls talk to me hard / Talk to my face, don’t talk to my palm.

(US teen) to perform fellatio.

1989

P. Munro Sl. U. 188: The guy [...] told me to talk to the mike, so I slapped him across the face.