to shoot the breeze
9
6.8
- idiom
- /ʃut ðə briz/
- Informal
:
charlar
- I thought I'd come by a little early so we could... hang out, shoot the breeze or whatever.
- just shoot the breeze
- sit and shoot the breeze
- shoot the breeze for a while
I don't see as much just hanging out in the front yard and shooting the breeze.
- I don't see as much just hanging out in the front yard and shooting the breeze.
- We pick a spot and shoot the breeze like buddies do, quoting songs by our favorite bands and telling jokes no one understands except us too.
- That's just like, Hey, we, you know, we're just, we can shoot the breeze, we can grab a brewski or we can hike a mountain or we can play tag football or again, popsicle sticks.
Examples
-
Even if you just want to talk, come in and shoot the breeze.
-
Holly trees line brick sidewalks, where locals stop to shoot the breeze.
Blog text (26) -
We were just two guys shooting the breeze.
-
Listen, I came here to do some business, not shoot the breeze.
-
We were just shooting the breeze about the election.
-
Just shooting the breeze, man.
-
We'll just sit around, shoot the breeze for a while.
Fiction book (1992) -
I'd love to stay and shoot the breeze and all, but...
-
My Biology II teacher mostly liked to shoot the breeze with his players (he was a basketball coach).
Blog text (28) -
We were just two friends shooting the breeze at the coffee shop.
Synonyms
269
1.0
To talk in a friendly, informal way about small everyday things
86
2.7
To talk quickly and without stopping about unimportant things
40
1.6
To talk in a friendly, casual way about a subject
29
3.3
To talk with someone in a friendly way
7
3.0
To talk in a friendly, light way about unimportant things
6
7.7
To talk for a long time in a relaxed, often boring way
6
1.0
To discuss small safe topics to start conversation and fill silence
5
4.1
To talk in a friendly, light way about unimportant things
3
7.9
Talk in a friendly, relaxed way for a long time
3
7.9
Talk in a friendly way about small unimportant things
2
8.1
To chat in a relaxed way about everyday things
1
8.5
To talk briefly and informally with someone, often in private
To chat with others about small, unimportant things
Talk in a friendly way about small, unimportant things
To talk in a relaxed, friendly way
To talk in a relaxed way about nothing important
Talking in a friendly, relaxed way with other people
To talk briefly in an informal way
To talk in a lively, informal way about things like music
To have a light friendly chat about unimportant things
Talk in a friendly, relaxed way
Antonyms
How Casual
- Informal
9
6.8
- Informal
1
6.9
- Informal
269
1.0
- Informal
65
2.1
248
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
shoot + the + breeze
The meaning 'to have a light informal conversation' cannot be derived from the literal words 'shoot' and 'breeze' (shoot = fire/propel; breeze = gentle wind); there is no transparent compositional relation linking those senses to chatting. This is an idiomatic, culture-specific phrase whose meaning is unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The idiom shoot the breeze may come from a picture of people outside casually firing a gun, the shoot, while feeling a light wind, the breeze, in a calm, easy moment. That's why it now means 'to chat casually'.