Loquacious describes a talkative person, while reserved and taciturn point to quietness.

Which adjective indicates a person who is talkative and fond of talking?

• A. Reserved
• B. Loquacious
• C. Taciturn
• D. Quiet

Answer: (B)

The adjective "loquacious" specifically describes a person who is very talkative and enjoys engaging in conversation. This term is often used to convey a sense of excessive talkativeness, indicating someone who tends to speak at length on various topics. In contexts where communication and expression are valued, a loquacious individual might be seen as friendly and engaging, often dominating discussions with their verbal contributions. In contrast, the other choices represent characteristics opposite to being talkative. "Reserved" refers to someone who is self-restrained and may not readily express their thoughts or feelings through conversation. "Taciturn" describes a person who is habitually silent or uncommunicative, often choosing to speak very little. "Quiet" can describe a person who is not loud but does not necessarily imply talkativeness or reticence; it can simply denote someone who prefers not to speak much. The clear distinction of "loquacious" lies in its direct association with a person's inclination to talk a lot, making it the correct choice in this context.

Outline in brief

• Hook: Words matter in court reporting — and one adjective in particular tells you a lot about how conversations flow.

• Meet the term: loquacious — what it means, and how it signals talkativeness.

• Quick contrasts: reserved, taciturn, quiet — how they differ and why it matters in transcripts.

• Why it matters for RPR-style work: capturing voice, pacing, and punctuation when chatter runs long.

• Real-world examples: short vignettes that show loquacious in action and how a reporter navigates them.

• Practical tips: building a vocabulary toolkit, memory cues, and methods to recognize and annotate talkative speakers.

• Gentle digressions that glue it together: a nod to everyday communication, interview setups, and the human side of transcription.

• Wrap-up: shy of drama, full of clarity — loquacious in everyday speech, precise in the record.

Loquacious on the pages of everyday talk

Let me explain quickly what this word really means. Loquacious isn’t just “talkative.” It’s a bit more precise: someone who tends to talk a lot, who enjoys conversation, and who sometimes speaks at length about many subjects. If you’ve ever sat in a meeting where one person fills the airtime with stories, observations, and side notes, you’ve heard loquacious energy in motion. For a court reporter, that loquacious voice can shape how a scene is captured, how pauses slip into the transcript, and how quickly the room moves from question to answer.

Think of loquacious as the verbal equivalent of a lively river. It rushes, it curves, it sometimes overflows its banks, but it never sits still. In contrast, the other terms in the set offer a calm counterpoint: reserved, taciturn, and quiet all describe someone who speaks less or more selectively. These are not bad descriptors; they simply sketch a different default setting for how a person tends to use language.

A quick compass: what each word signals

• Loquacious: you’re describing a person who talks at length and with enthusiasm. The talk isn’t forced; it’s natural and engaging, even when it runs over a bit.

• Reserved: this person holds thoughts close, choosing to speak only when necessary. It can feel measured, perhaps cautious, and it often signals a preference for listening first.

• Taciturn: the quiet sibling in this family. Taciturn folks speak rarely and briefly, but when they do, you pay attention because you don’t hear much of them otherwise.

• Quiet: a broader, looser label. It can describe temperament or current mood, not necessarily a habit of talking much in every situation.

In the field, words carry weight

For someone working with stenotype machines, audio recordings, and a streamer of courtroom dynamics, the choice of descriptor isn’t just about vocabulary. It’s about how you model the scene in your notes. A loquacious witness, for instance, might produce long, winding answers, filled with parentheticals, asides, and expansions. That’s not a failure of clarity; it’s the natural texture of human speech. Your job is to reflect that texture with accurate punctuation, clear speaker identification, and a transcript that reads faithfully to who spoke and how they spoke.

Now, imagine a witness who’s loquacious during direct examination. They answer with stories, connect ideas, and loop back to points earlier in the day. The reporter watches for cue words, hesitation markers, and natural rhythm shifts. You learn to anticipate where a train of thought will unwind, and you place commas to guide the reader through the speaker’s cadence. The goal isn’t to dampen the speaker’s energy; it’s to preserve it in the written record so someone later can listen and understand without re-reading a paragraph twice.

From theory to real life: a couple of vivid scenes

• Scene one: The loquacious witness who is eager to share every detail. They start with the main point and then drift into related memories—the garden around the courthouse, a neighbor’s dog, a childhood anecdote. As the reporter, you tag the main points, insert a few clarifying questions, and use punctuation to show the natural flow of their thoughts. The transcript remains readable, and the energy of the testimony isn’t lost.

• Scene two: An opposing witness who is more succinct, but occasionally veers into a nugget of loquacity when pressed. You’ll see short bursts of extended explanation followed by crisp answers. The trick is to keep the concise segments tight while letting the longer sections breathe, so readers can follow the intent without getting tangled in run-on sentences.

• Scene three: A judge’s moment where the pace slows. The loquacious voice might be interrupted for a clarifying question, a pause, or a direction. Your notes reflect that pivot with a clear speaker label, a pause marker, and a transition that helps readers understand why the pace shifted.

Weaving this into your note-taking toolkit

Here’s the thing: vocabulary is not just a fancy add-on. It’s an operation tool. As an RPR-in-training, you’ll move through transcripts where you meet a spectrum of speaking styles. Loquacious is a useful shorthand, but you don’t want to rely on it as a blanket label. Use it when it fits, and pair it with concrete cues you hear in the audio: a lot of parentheticals, drifting topics, rapid shifts, or a tendency to answer with a story rather than a single factual answer.

If you’re building a mental library of descriptors, you’ll want to pair terms with practical signals. For loquacious, signals might include:

• Long, winding answers that cover multiple subpoints

• Frequent parentheticals like “uh,” “you know,” or “and then” asides

• A conversational tone that feels more like storytelling than a direct response

• Occasional digressions that still tie back to the key issue

Contrast that with reserved or taciturn signals:

• Short, to-the-point answers

• Minimal elaboration unless asked a follow-up

• Fewer asides; less narrative flow

• A calm, even-paced delivery that doesn’t invite many tangents

Practical steps to grow familiarity without turning the page into a chore

• Listen actively to diverse speech samples. Podcasts, court footage, or public remarks often feature a range of talking styles. Note where loquacious energy appears and where it remains compact.

• Create quick reference tags in your notes. When you hear a speaker who’s particularly loquacious, jot a label like “Loq-warm” to remind yourself of the pattern, then practice transcribing a few lines with careful punctuation.

• Practice your punctuation instincts. Loquacious speech benefits from thoughtful punctuation to guide readers through the speaker’s thought process. Commas, dashes, and parentheses help segment ideas without breaking the natural rhythm.

• Read transcripts with an ear for rhythm. Don’t just skim for content. Notice where the writer chose to slow down, insert a clarifying remark, or pause as the speaker pivots to a related memory.

• Build a mini-glossary. Include loquacious, reserved, taciturn, quiet, and similar terms you encounter. Add a short example sentence for each so you can recall the nuance quickly.

A touch of humor to keep it human

Let’s be honest: courtrooms aren’t monologues. People switch gears, laugh, sigh, and pivot from one topic to another. A loquacious speaker can feel like a friend who never runs out of stories, which is charming in the moment but can test a reporter’s focus. The key isn’t to curb their energy entirely; it’s to channel it into a transcript that remains precise and readable. That balance — between being faithful to the speaker’s voice and ensuring the record is navigable — is the heartbeat of what you do.

A few quick reminders as you grow comfortable with the term

• Loquacious describes talkativeness as a trait, often a positive or neutral descriptor when used in context. It signals an abundance of speech, not a flaw.

• The other adjectives—reserved, taciturn, quiet—paint a spectrum from restrained to minimal speech. Recognizing where a speaker sits on that spectrum helps you decide how to pace your notes and punctuation.

• In the end, your transcript should tell the truth of the moment: who spoke, how they spoke, and what they meant. The words themselves are important, but the way you present them matters just as much.

A few more thoughts on tone, for balance

If you’re new to the language of the courtroom, you might worry about sounding too academic. Don’t. Some of the most effective transcripts feel like conversations that were captured with a steady hand. The vocabulary you use—loquacious among others—should feel natural in the record, not forced into a pretentious mold. That’s how you serve both memory and justice: a document that reads clearly to a future judge, a review officer, or a legal team scanning for details.

In this kind of work, you’ll also encounter voices that aren’t loud in the literal sense but carry weight. A taciturn expert witness might deliver a concise, highly technical statement that’s packed with meaning. A loquacious parent might share a long anecdote that reveals a pattern, an attitude, or a motive. Your success lies in recognizing the nuance and letting the right amount of space exist in the transcript for the reader to notice it.

Bringing it all together

So, what’s the bottom line about loquacious? It’s a compass marker for a speaker who talks with ease and gusto, with repercussions for how a transcript should flow. It’s not about labeling someone as good or bad at speaking; it’s about understanding speech patterns so the record can be read, studied, and understood long after the day in court has ended.

If you’re aiming for clarity, precision, and a sense of the speaker’s personality in your notes, loquacious is a handy term to keep in your pocket. It helps you describe a style, not judge it. And in the hands of a careful reporter, a loquacious speaker becomes a vivid part of a larger truth, captured with clean punctuation, clear speaker tags, and a rhythm that mirrors real conversation.

Closing thought: language as tool, voice as subject

The beauty of this work lies in how language becomes a tool for clarity, not a barrier to understanding. The loquacious voice is a reminder that speech carries texture—notes, pauses, digressions, and all. Your job is to translate texture into a transcript that stands up to scrutiny and remains legible to someone who wasn’t in the room. It’s a craft, yes, but also a service: you give readers a faithful map of the moment, where every speaker’s cadence has its rightful place.

If you remember one thing after reading this, let it be this: knowing how to describe speech, including where loquacious energy shows up, makes you better at capturing truth in writing. And that, in the end, is what good reporting is all about.