to chew the fat
3
7.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
charlar
- After work, my friends and I like to chew the fat over a few beers.
- sit around and chew the fat
Examples
-
No, no, maybe we could just sit down, chew the fat.
-
It had been a half an hour since Marty ate breakfast, so he went for a bite at Bud's, a greasy spoon where the locals gathered to chew the fat.
-
You said you wanted to catch up and chew the fat.
-
We can figure out how to make peace with them while we chew the fat and catch up on past times.
Fiction book (1994) -
You sit there, you read the paper, you chew the fat with the waitress.
-
We went out for a drink, sat and chewed the fat for a while, and then came home.
-
Fred could sit here alone by the hour, mull over songs, or chew the fat with writers.
Fiction book (1990) -
We can go back, see the guys, chew the fat, it'll be just like it always was, except this time we're going to finish this thing once and for all.
-
Let's chew the fat.
-
You know, just two colleagues chewing the fat, forming a mutual respect, planting the seeds of cooperation.
Fiction book (2002)
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
9
6.8
To chat in a relaxed informal way about unimportant things
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
5
4.1
To talk in a friendly, light way about unimportant things
3
7.9
Talk in a friendly way about small unimportant things
2
8.1
To chat in a relaxed way about everyday things
2
8.7
Talk a lot about things that do not matter
1
6.9
To talk a lot about small unimportant things
1
8.5
To talk briefly and informally with someone, often in private
To talk in a relaxed way about nothing important
To chat with others about small, unimportant things
To have a light friendly chat about unimportant things
Talk in a friendly way about small, unimportant things
Talk in a friendly, relaxed way
To talk for a long time in a casual or boring way
To talk a lot about unimportant things
Speak with someone for a very long time until they get tired
To talk in a lively, informal way about things like music
To talk briefly in an informal way
To talk in a relaxed way about old times
How Relaxed
- Informal
9
6.8
- Informal
3
7.9
- Informal
269
1.0
29
3.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
chew + the + fat
Although the words 'chew' and 'fat' are literal, their combination 'chew the fat' meaning 'chat informally' is idiomatic and not directly inferable from the constituents; the image of chewing fat does not transparently map onto casual conversation. The expression has a historical/metaphorical origin and lacks a clear cross‑linguistic parallel, so a B1 learner who knows the single words would unlikely predict the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
The idiom chew the fat may come from a simple picture: people sitting together would slowly chew bits of fat while they talked for a long time. That's why the phrase means 'to chat' for a long time.