to speak by the book
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To speak with meticulous exactness. To speak literatim) according to what is m the book.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to speak by the book” mean?
To speak with meticulous exactness. To speak literatim) according to what is m the book.
Is “to speak by the book” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.