Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Chit-chatMeaning Casual smalltalk or gossip. Origin This is just a reduplication of chat, which is itself a diminutive form of chatter, which has been with us as both a noun and a verb since the 13th century. The two-way, conversational nature of chit-chat is alluded to in the 'to and fro' sound of the term, as in tick-tock and see-saw. It is recorded in two separate citations from 1710. Firstly, in Samuel Palmer's Moral essays on some of the most curious English, Scotch, and foreign proverbs:
Secondly, in a piece by Sir Richard Steele, in edition 197 of The Tatler:
See also - other reduplicated phrases. |