A close talker is someone who when talking to you moves in very close. They stand very close to you, with their face too close to your face, invading your "personal space". The person conversing with the 'close talker' usually will back up to allow a normal space in between them and the 'close talker'. However, the 'close talker' usually continues to move forward to again secure their position, standing way too close. Backing up, bobbing, and weaving - "the 'ol bob and weave" - are common tactics of the unfortunate person who gets stuck talking to a 'close talker'.

On some occasions the 'close talker' has halitosis (bad breath). This exacerbates the problem, as now the 'close talker' is not only making their conversational partner uncomfortable by standing way too close, but now the partner has to deal with the odiferous air of foul-smelling mouth. In some situations the 'close talker' also has very bad teeth due to years of smoking, coffee drinking, and other abuses. The teeth are easy to inspect due to their close proximity to the conversational partner. The combination of these offenses is enough to make many people physically ill.

The phrase was created on the popular television show Seinfeld. On the show Elaine went out with a "close talker" named Aaron (played by Judge Reinhold). Even though the "close talker" had such a small part the phrase really caught on as one of Seinfeld's most popular. This article is about the sitcom. ... Judge Reinhold Judge Reinhold is the stage name of Edward Ernest Reinhold, Jr. ...

Close talker is the Hollywood reinvention of the very established southern expression face talker.