banter

English

WOTD – 8 February 2007

Etymology

1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant +‎ -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbæntə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæntɚ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -æntə(ɹ)

Noun

banter (uncountable)

1. Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.

   Synonyms: pleasantry, raillery

   • 1927–1929, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, chapter XVIII, in The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC:

     I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society, and made it a point to attend every one of its meetings, but I always felt tongue-tied. Dr. Oldfield once said to me, 'You talk to me quite all right, but why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone.' I appreciated the banter. The bees are ever busy, the drone is a thorough idler.

   • 2007, Evelyn M. Field, Bully Blocking, page 17:

     This bullying continuum illustrates the progressive escalation from harmless banter to bullying and criminal behaviours.

Translations

good humoured conversation

• Bulgarian: закачка (bg) (zakačka), задявка (bg) (zadjavka)
• Catalan: gatzara (ca) f
• Dutch: geplaag (nl), scherts (nl), badinage (nl)
• Finnish: rupattelu (fi)
• French: plaisanterie (fr) f, badinage (fr) m
• Galician: parola (gl) f, leria (gl) f
• German: Gelabere (de) n (colloquial), Wortgeplänkel (de) n, Geplänkel (de) n, Scherz (de) m, Neckerei (de) f, Ulk (de) m, Geplauder (de) n, Gelaber (de) n
• Icelandic: stríðni f
• Italian: chiacchierata (it) f
• Japanese: からかい (karakai)
• Macedonian: за́качка f (zákačka), заеба́нција f (zaebáncija), заде́вање n (zadévanje)
• Maori: whakatara
• Polish: przekomarzanie się
• Portuguese: caçoada (pt) f, brincadeira (pt) f, resenha (pt) f
• Russian: шутливая беседа f
• Scots: craic
• Spanish: charla (es) f, plática f, cháchara (es) f
• Swedish: smågnabb, snack (colloquial), småprat (sv), munhuggande n
• Turkish: muhabbet (tr)

Verb

banter (third-person singular simple present banters, present participle bantering, simple past and past participle bantered)

1. (intransitive) To engage in banter or playful conversation.
2. (intransitive) To play or do something amusing.
3. (transitive) To tease (someone) mildly.

   Synonyms: kid, wind up

   • 1760 January 28 (first performance), [Samuel] Foote, The Minor, a Comedy. […], London: […] J. Coote, […]; G[eorge] Kearsly, […]; T[homas] Davies, […], published 1760, →OCLC, Act II, page 56:

     Here comes the muſty trader, running over vvith remonſtrances. I muſt banter the cit.

   • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:

     Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day.

   • 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Shirley. A Tale. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:

     Mr. Sweeting was bantered about his stature—he was a little man, a mere boy in height and breadth compared with the athletic Malone […]

4. (transitive) To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
   • June 1804, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

     If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them.

5. (transitive) To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
   • 1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edling, […], published 1722, →OCLC, pages 69–70:

     [W]e diverted ourſelves vvith bantering ſeveral other poor Scholars, vvith hopes of being at leaſt his Lordſhip's Chaplains and putting on a Scarf; […]

6. (transitive, US, Southern and Western, colloquial) To challenge to a match.
7. (UK, dialect) To haggle; cheapen the price.

Derived terms

• Archbishop of Banterbury
• bant
• Bantersaurus Rex

Translations

to engage in banter

• Bulgarian: задявам се (zadjavam se)
• Dutch: schertsen (nl)
• Finnish: pilailla (fi)
• French: badiner (fr)
• Galician: parolar (gl)
• German: albern (de), scherzen (de), plaudern (de), necken (de), sich necken, schäkern (de)
• Macedonian: се за́дева (se zádeva)
• Maori: whakatara
• Polish: przekomarzać się (pl)
• Spanish: charlar (es), bromear (es)
• Turkish: muhabbet etmek (tr)
• Walloon: loumter (wa)

to play or do something amusing

• Czech: žertovat (cs) impf, laškovat impf
• Finnish: leikitellä (fi)
• French: s’amuser (fr)
• German: Spaß haben, sich amüsieren, spielen (de), sich vergnügen
• Polish: robić psikus impf, zrobić psikus pf
• Spanish: divertirse (es)

to tease mildly

• Bulgarian: закачам се (zakačam se), шегувам се (šeguvam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 談笑／谈笑 (zh) (tánxiào)

• Czech: škádlit (cs) impf
• Dutch: plagen (nl)
• Finnish: kiusoitella (fi)
• French: taquiner (fr)
• German: necken (de), verulken (de), auf den Arm nehmen (de), sich necken, sticheln (de)
• Icelandic: stríða (is)
• Ido: moketar (io)
• Italian: stuzzicare (it)
• Macedonian: се ше́гува (se šéguva)
• Polish: przekomarzać się (pl)
• Portuguese: caçoar (pt), bulir (pt)
• Russian: добродушно подшучивать (dobrodušno podšučivatʹ), подтрунивать (ru) (podtrunivatʹ), поддразнивать (ru) (poddraznivatʹ)
• Spanish: torear (es), burlarse de (es), tomar el pelo a (es), chacotear (es)
• Turkish: takılmak (tr)

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (1996–2024) “Banter”, in World Wide Words.

Anagrams

• Barnet, Bernat, barnet