chitter-chatter
/ˈtʃɪtətʃatə
/informal
noun [mass noun]
Informal and inconsequential conversation: there was chitter-chatter in the lobby as Mabel entered the movie theatre...
- Even after the tremors shook the earth and people were gathering outside I ignored the noise of chitter-chatter.
- I actually haven't heard from them, directly, but I know there's a lot of Internet chitter-chatter going on.
- There was no chitter-chatter; they were focused.
verb [no object]
Talk about trivial matters: people are chitter-chattering and laughter flows freely...
- They just chitter-chattered about lots of things.
- As I had expected, Judy chitter-chattered about this and that.
- While she chitter-chatters away like a house sparrow nesting in the eaves I remain shielded by an expanse of newspaper.
Origin
Early 18th century: reduplication of chatter; compare with chit-chat.