all talk

all talk (and no action)

Said of one who talks a lot about something that one has not actually done, or will not actually do. She may brag about donating money to the school, but I know she's all talk and no action. Oh, he's all talk—he's never had to face real danger.
See also: all, no, talk
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

all talk (and no action)

talking often about doing something, but never actually doing it. The car needs washing, but Bill is all talk and no action on this matter. Bill keeps saying he'll get a job soon, but he's all talk and no action. Bill won't do it. He's just all talk.
See also: all, talk
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

all talk

If you say that someone is all talk, you mean that they often say they are going to do something impressive or exciting but never actually do it. These guys aren't reliable. They're all talk. Note: People sometimes use the longer expression all talk and no action. Thus far, Clark has been all talk and no action.
See also: all, talk
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • all talk (and no action)
  • cider
  • be all talk
  • be all talk (and no action)
  • talk is cheap
  • get too big for (one's) britches
  • britches
  • the eye is bigger than the belly
  • someone's eyes are bigger than their belly
  • (one's) eyes are bigger than (one's) belly
References in periodicals archive
Two recent books, Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time, by Howard Kurtz, and Good Intentions Make Bad News: Why Americans Hate Campaign Journalism, explore the often tortured - and tortuous - relationship between the political press, its subjects, and its audience.
A cacophony of chat fills the airwaves from coast to coast, from dawn to dusk and beyond, all talk all the time." Where the "Old Media...still cling to some vestige of objectivity," says Kurtz, the talk shows - which run the gamut from The McLaughlin Group to Donahue to Oprah to Howard Stern's and Rush Limbaugh's radio programs - "revel in their one-sided pugnacity, spreading wild theories, delicious gossip, and angry denunciations with gleeful abandon."
Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time
The dismal state of journalism and its seemingly imperiled future is the nexus of two new books: Howard Kurtz's Hot Air: All Talk, All the Time and Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, by James Fallows.
Breaking the News: How the Media undermine American Democracy
Finally, the fact that nearly all talks are memorized makes them akin to carefully prepared sales pitches.
"TED talks as an emergent genre"