small talk
English
Noun
- (idiomatic) Idle conversation, typically on innocuous or unimportant subjects, usually engaged in at social gatherings out of politeness.
- 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 134:
- [T]o the credit of the lady it may be added, that […] without any of the arts of flattery or the gaieties of small talk, he began to be agreeable to her.
- 1910, P. G. Wodehouse, Misunderstood:
- If he had a fault as a conversationalist, it was a certain tendency to monotony, a certain lack of sparkle and variety in his small-talk.
- 2009 June 10, John Cloud, “Michael Jackson 1958–2009”, in Time[1]:
- Yet for so public a figure, Jackson was socially awkward, inept at small talk and terrified when the distant audience became an adoring mob.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
Synonyms
- (idle conversation): pleasantries, foretalk
- See also Thesaurus:chatter
Descendants
- Finnish: smalltalk
- German: Smalltalk
- Polish: small talk
Translations
idle conversation
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See also
Further reading
- small talk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia