Do Women Talk More Than Men?
"Women talk more than men — supposedly around 20,000 words a day versus men's 7,000."
The 20,000-vs-7,000 number is fabricated. The best direct measurement — recording people over days — found men and women speak almost the same amount, around 16,000 words each. Context matters more than gender: women talk slightly more in private dyads, men talk slightly more in professional and mixed-gender public settings.
What the data says
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Men: 15,669 words/day avg. Women: 16,215 words/day avg. Difference: not statistically significant.
Mehl et al., Science (2007) · 2007 · EAR device recording 396 university students across 8 samples, US and Mexico
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Meta-analysis of 73 studies: women talk slightly more than men overall (d = -0.11, a very small effect). In task-oriented and mixed-sex public groups, men talk more.
Leaper & Ayres, Personality and Social Psychology Review (2007) · 2007 · Meta-analysis of 73 studies, 4,385 participants
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In 11 studies of mixed-sex conversations, men interrupted women 33 times for every 7 times women interrupted men.
Zimmerman & West, 'Sex Roles, Interruptions and Silences in Conversation' (1975) · 1975 · Observational study of 31 conversations
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In workplace meetings analyzed by Brigham Young / Princeton, men took up 75% of the discussion time in mixed groups, even when they were the minority.
Karpowitz, Mendelberg & Shaker, American Political Science Review (2012) · 2012 · Experimental study of 94 five-person deliberative groups
Where it came from
The '20,000 vs 7,000' figure was popularized by Louann Brizendine's 2006 book *The Female Brain*. It has no peer-reviewed source. Brizendine's publisher removed the claim from later printings after researchers — including Mark Liberman at Language Log — traced it to a self-help pamphlet with no underlying data. The stereotype itself is older: English-language proverbs about women's 'chattering' appear as far back as the 1500s.
What this means
The gender difference in how much people talk is real but tiny — and it usually runs the opposite direction from the stereotype in professional and public settings, where men dominate speaking time. The stereotype persists partly because women talking the same amount as men is often *perceived* as women talking too much. In a 2014 George Washington University study, listeners judged women as dominating a conversation when they spoke just 30% of the time.
Voices from the magazine
"I was told in my performance review I 'talk too much in meetings.' I counted. I spoke six times in a two-hour meeting. My male counterpart spoke nineteen."
— Anonymous, Raw submission — Typical Female, April 2026
Frequently asked
Do women actually talk 20,000 words a day?
No. The 20,000 figure has no scientific source. Direct measurement (Mehl et al., 2007) found both men and women average around 16,000 words per day.
So is there any truth to the stereotype?
Slightly — but smaller than assumed and highly context-dependent. Women talk a little more in close one-on-one conversations. Men talk more in professional meetings, public settings, and mixed-sex groups.
Where did the '20,000 vs 7,000' figure come from?
Louann Brizendine's 2006 book *The Female Brain*. It was retracted in later editions after researchers could not locate any supporting data.
Who interrupts more in conversations?
Consistently: men interrupt women far more than the reverse. Zimmerman & West's foundational 1975 study found a 33-to-7 ratio in mixed-sex conversations, and subsequent research has replicated the pattern.
Why does the stereotype feel true to so many people?
Perception is skewed. A 2014 George Washington University study found listeners judged women as 'dominating' a conversation when they spoke just 30% of the time — less than an equal share.