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Chat vs Chatter - What's the difference?

chat | chatter | Synonyms |

Chatter is a derived term of chat.

Chatter is a synonym of chat.



As verbs the difference between chat and chatter

is that chat is to be engaged in informal conversation while chatter is to talk idly.

As nouns the difference between chat and chatter

is that chat is {{cx|uncountable|lang=en}} Informal conversation while chatter is talk, especially meaningless or unimportant talk.

chat

English

(wikipedia chat)

Etymology 1

Abbreviation of chatter . The bird sense refers to the sound of its call.

Verb

(chatt)
  • To be engaged in informal conversation.
  • She chatted with her friend in the cafe.
    I like to chat over a coffee with a friend.
  • To talk more than a few words.
  • I met my old friend in the street, so we chatted for a while.
  • To talk of; to discuss.
  • They chatted politics for a while.
  • To exchange text or voice messages in real time through a computer network, as if having a face-to-face conversation.
  • Do you want to chat online later?

    Noun

  • Informal conversation.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=Reg liked a chat about old times and we used to go and have a chinwag in the pub.}}
  • A conversation to stop an argument or settle situations.
  • An exchange of text or voice messages in real time through a computer network, resembling a face-to-face conversation.
  • Any of various small Old World passerine birds in the subfamily Saxicolini that feed on insects.
  • Derived terms
    * backchat * chatroom * chat up * stonechat * whinchat

    Etymology 2

    Compare chit'' "small piece of paper", and ''chad''.William Safire, ''The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time , p. 43, Simon and Schuster, 2007 ISBN 1416587403.

    Noun

  • A small potato, such as is given to swine.
  • References

    Etymology 3

    Origin unknown.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Mining waste from lead and zinc mines.
  • * 2006 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day , Vintage 2007, p. 441:
  • Frank had been looking at calcite crystals for a while now [...] among the chats or zinc tailings of the Lake County mines, down here in the silver lodes of the Vita Madre and so forth.

    Etymology 4

    From .

    Alternative forms

    * chatt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • .
  • * 1977 , Mary Emily Pearce, Apple Tree Lean Down , page 520:
  • 'Do officers have chats , then, the same as us?'
    'Not the same, no. The chats they got is bigger and better, with pips on their shoulders and Sam Browne belts.'
  • * 2007 , How Can I Sleep when the Seagull Calls? (ISBN 978-1-4357-1811-1), page 18:
  • May a thousand chats from Belgium crawl under their fingers as they write.
  • * 2013 , Graham Seal, The Soldiers' Press: Trench Journals in the First World War (ISBN 1137303263), page 149:
  • Trench foot'' was a nasty and potentially fatal foot disease commonly caused by these conditions, in which ''chats or body lice were the bane of all.

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l) ----

    chatter

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , of imitative origin.

    Noun

    (-)
  • talk, especially meaningless or unimportant talk
  • the sound of talking
  • the sound made by a magpie
  • an intermittent noise, as from vibration
  • Proper brake adjustment will help to reduce the chatter .
  • in national security, the degree of communication between suspect groups and individuals, used to gauge the degree of expected terrorist activity.
  • The NSA is concerned about increased chatter between known terror groups.
    Synonyms
    * (sense) chattering, chatting, nattering * See also

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To talk idly.
  • They knitted and chattered the whole time.
  • * Shakespeare
  • To tame a shrew, and charm her chattering tongue.
  • Of teeth, machinery, etc, to make a noise by rapid collisions.
  • He was so cold that his teeth were chattering .
  • To utter sounds which somewhat resemble language, but are inarticulate and indistinct.
  • * Wordsworth
  • The jaw makes answer, as the magpie chatters .
    Synonyms
    * (talk idly) chat, natter * (make a chattering noise) clatter, knock, pink (said of an engine )

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • one who chats
  • (Internet) a user of chat rooms
  • * 2013 , Michael K. Sullivan, Sexual Minorities (page 148)
  • During the chat sessions, two outreach team members would engage in a conversation about the topic chosen for that event in the main chat room and entice other chatters to join in.

    Anagrams

    *