chunter

WOTD - 13 June 2009    

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈtʃʌn.tə/

Verb

chunter (third-person singular simple present chunters, present participle chuntering, simple past and past participle chuntered)

1. (UK, slang) To speak in a soft, indistinct manner, mutter.
   • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, p. 349,

     Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the way down the street.

2. (UK, slang) To grumble, complain.
   • 1921 [1999], David Herbert Lawrence, Sea and Sardinia, Penguins Classics, p. 74,

     “Since she had another seat and was quite comfortable, we smiled and let her chunter.”

Translations

speak in a soft, indistinct manner, mutter

Czech: mrmlat (cs)

Serbian: мумлати (sr)

grumble, complain

Czech: mrmlat (cs)

French: se plaindre (fr)

References

“D. H. Lawrence gave a new lease on life to the verb to chunter, ‘to mutter, complain’, labelled “Obs. exc. dial”, when he used it in Sea and Sardinia (1921)’,” Languages in Contact and Contrast: Essays in Contact Linguistics, by Vladimir Ivir, Damir Kalogjera, p. 411 b.g.c link