English for Students

English : Gossip

Could you give some colloquial expressions meaning Gossip?

There are several expressions which mean gossip. Here are three which I use quite often:

1. To shoot the bull
2. To chew the fat
3. To shoot the breeze.

All are used in informal contexts. When you shoot the bull or chew the fat, you chat and gossip.

Here are a few examples.

• Why don't we get together this weekend and shoot the bull?

• Jai and Praia spend too much time shooting the bull.

• Let's sit down and chew the fat for some time.

• Nothing much happened. We chewed the fat for half an hour and left.

The expression chew the rag means the same thing as chew the fat.

When you shoot the breeze, you usually end up chatting about a lot of things.

• Meera and Kalyani spent the entire afternoon shooting the breeze.

• I enjoyed shooting the breeze with Lavanya.




COURTESY : The Hindu (The National News-Paper) - India