shop talk
2
6.5
- noun
- Jargon
:
charlas de trabajo
- During lunch, the engineers engaged in shop talk about the latest software updates and technical challenges.
- enough shop talk
- little shop talk
Examples
-
They engaged in shop talk for a little while.
Fiction book (1992) -
There was no time and little inclination for shop talk before dinner.
Fiction book (1995) -
Sorry, hon, we just slipped into some shop talk.
-
"I'm boring you with all this shop talk," he said.
Fiction book (1992) -
Tonight the conversation is by turns technical shop talk and trivia.
Academic text (1991) -
Okay, enough shop talk.
-
"I hope you don't mind a little shop talk, Paul," Laurie said.
Fiction book (1999) -
We're both so darn starved for shop talk that we often end up chatting for two or three hours!
Blog text (24) -
Instead, it's gossip and shop talk, anecdotes about the kids, gripes about taxes or local politics.
Fiction book (2000) -
Writer's block is not contagious, but enthusiasm is, and an evening of shop talk with other writers can give you the shove that gets your own gears turning.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
3
7.2
A conversation about work that uses special words people in the same job understand
How Technical
43
7.2
1
3.5
- Jargon
2
6.5
- Informal
312
1.0
- Informal
65
2.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'conversation about work or business' is directly derived from combining 'shop' (workplace/business) with 'talk' (conversation); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer this composition. This noun + noun compounding is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and does not involve an idiomatic or metaphorical shift, so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
Shop talk comes from the image of workers in a shop talking about their job, with shop meaning the workplace and talk meaning conversation. That's why it now means talking about 'work' or using 'technical' words that only people in the same field understand.