Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

chew the fat

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.63 in modern English

Syllables
chew the -fat
IPA
24
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To chat idly or generally waste time talking.

Informal

Example Sentences

Etymology

One of the possible origins is from the fact that after a meal people would go into their sitting room with their guests and chit chat while chewing on the fat left over from a meal. Another possibility comes from sailors who often had salted beef and pork on long voyages and the fat would harden. Sailors would eat and complain about the hard life of the sea while "chewing the fat" Probably just from comparison of the jaw movements in chewing to the jaw movements in talking.

Usage

Inflected Forms

chews the fat (present, singular) chewing the fat (participle, present) chewed the fat (participle, past) chewed the fat (past)

Phrases

chew the cud

Frequently Paired Words

chew the cud

Synonyms

chew the rag shoot the breeze shoot the shit shoot the bull throw the bull chat confabulate confab chitchat chit-chat chatter chaffer

Questions

What does chew the fat mean?
To chat idly or generally waste time talking.
Where does chew the fat come from?
One of the possible origins is from the fact that after a meal people would go into their sitting room with their guests and chit chat while chewing on the fat left over from a meal. Another possibility comes from sailors who often had salted beef and pork on long voyages and the fat would harden. Sailors would eat and complain about the hard life of the sea while "chewing the fat" Probably just from comparison of the jaw movements in chewing to the jaw movements in talking.

How to pronounce chew the fat

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “chew the fat”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “chew the fat”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “chew the fat” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.