This study examined whether off-target verbosity should be conceptualized as a distinct process from high levels of talkativeness in every day social situations. The relationship of age to these speech styles was also determined. The responses of 125 community-based elderly adults to a life-history interview were independently rated by two research assistants for the frequency and extent of off-target verbosity. The participant's activities in daily life, including talkativeness, were independently rated by the participants themselves, 125 similar-aged peers and 10 professional workers acquainted with the participants. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a model postulating off-target verbosity and talkativeness as two largely independent latent factors. Age was associated with the verbosity factor. The results were interpreted as indicating that off-target verbosity cannot be explained by the same processes that underlie social talkativeness. Possible mechanisms of the verbosity factor were discussed.