Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[utage]

Hi teachers,

Does this sentence "why speak now?" have a special meaning?

[bud]

Could it have been, "Why speak up now?"

In this case, "speak up" means to complain or to protest. The question suggests that "now" seems too late - there were many times before when you could have complained, and then (earlier) it might have been useful to complain. Now it seems like a waste of time.