friendly set-to

5.9

A short, mild argument between people who are not angry

noun

Archaic

: discusión amistosa

We had a friendly set-to at work, but it helped us understand each other better.

Examples

Their friendly set-to over football teams made everyone at the table laugh.
After a friendly set-to, they both laughed it off.
After dinner, the siblings had a friendly set-to about which movie to watch.
They had a friendly set-to about the best pizza place in town.
After dinner, the siblings had a friendly set-to about which movie to watch.
Their friendly set-to over football teams made everyone at the table laugh.
They had a friendly set-to about the best pizza place in town.

Antonyms

dispute

384 3.0

A serious argument about something important that lasts a long time

acrimonious argument

7.8

A bitter, angry argument that causes hard feelings

How Hostile

fight

675 2.4

argument

617 2.3

quarrel

61 2.0

friendly set-to

Archaic

5.9

spat

24 3.7

Surface Forms

friendly set-to singular

friendly set-tos plural

Morphology

friendly + set-to

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'friendly' (kind, amicable) modifies 'set-to' (a quarrel/argument), so the overall meaning 'a mild, good-natured argument' is directly derivable from the constituents. Note that 'set-to' is colloquial/British and may be unfamiliar to some learners, but given knowledge of both words the meaning is predictable and compositional.

Etymology

Friendly set-to comes from old British talk where a set-to was a short, face-to-face fight. Adding 'friendly' makes that fight mild and good-natured, so today the phrase means a short, pleasant 'argument' rather than a real fight.