Yes, 'talk' belongs inside scare quotation marks. Breaking news from ABC:

The Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, is home to seven bonobos -- a close relative of the chimpanzee -- and three orangutans. But if you think Iowa might be a strange place for them to live, don't say it out loud -- these apes understand English.

Watch the video and you'll see John Berman say 'ice' in the presence of Kanzi (the famous bonobo) and Kanzi points to 'ice' on his screen of symbols. Given that threshhold of understanding, my laptop understands English. There are surely more impressive examples of communication than this. This illustration only serves to ridicule what apes/chimps can do with language and communication. Must be a slow news day in science.

ABC News: Amazing Science: Apes 'Talk' to Humans

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