to speak of

to speak of

English

Pronunciation

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Phrase

to speak of

1. (idiomatic, usually negative) sufficient; important or significant enough to be worth mentioning.
   • 1792, Jean François Marmontel, ‎C. Dennis & ‎Robert Lloyd, Moral Tales By M. Marmontel Translated From the French by C. Dennis and R. Lloyd, page 130:

     While he spoke thus, the good man leaped with joy; and as he was a widower, they advised him to put himself agian to the ranks. 'No raillery,' said he, 'if I were always as young, I might yet do something to speak of.

   • 1980, Charlotte Vale Allen, Promises, page 79:

     There were no tall buildings to speak of, certainly nothing in the way of skyscrapers, no brownstones […]

   • 2013, Stephen Dixon, 30 Pieces of a Novel, →ISBN:

     But some have no parents, or none to speak of, and are living with a grandmother or uncle or married sister or sister who's not married but has three tots of her own to look after, or this unruly student's helping her to take care of them with babysitting or a paying after-school job.