It's so true that talent alone is not enough, it has to be developed and maintained with schedules and determination. I don't mid when people say talent to me, though, it's nice sometimes to have people think I just magic up things when I know how much I've toiled, it makes me smile :)
Yes, I agree with you! Personally, it has never bothered me when someone says that I am talented at something; I know that they are just trying to be nice and compliment me. I never had really thought about it until my girlfriend mentioned it one time that she didn't like being called talented. I was a bit confused until she explained that she felt it diminished the skill that she had worked hard to develop.
I think she is starting to soften up on it these days. To be fair, she gets annoyed way to easily by a lot of things. haha!