rabbit on
informal phrasal verb (British)

- if you describe someone as rabbiting on, you do not like the way they keep talking for a long time about something that is not very interesting.

- to continue talking about something that is not interesting to the person you are talking to

Collins Dictionary / Cambridge Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase “rabbit on” was inspired by Cockney rhyming slang, a form of language that originated in the East End of London in the early 19th century. It subsequently developed into a "secret language" largely incomprehensible to outsiders.

In the case of “rabbit on” you need to know the phrase “rabbit and pork” and then to rhyme "pork" with "talk", thus “rabbiting on” means “to keep talking”.

Another frequently cited example is “I’m going up the apples” which means “I’m going up the stairs”. To decode this you need to know (1) the common phrase “apples and pears” and (2) to rhyme “pears” with “stairs”.

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DECODING RHYMING SLANG

Here are ten common phrases and their associated meanings:

- butcher’s hook = look
- bees and honey = money
- bubble bath = laugh
- loaf of bread = head
- pork pies = lies
- Hampstead Heath = teeth
- dog and bone = phone
- fisherman’s daughter = water
- lump of ice = advice
- early hours = flowers

During the 20th century, rhyming slang began to be based on the names of celebrities:

- Gregory Peck = cheque
- John Cleese = keys
- Nat King Cole = dole
- Britney Spears = beers
- Captain Kirk = work
- Roger Moore = door
- Brady Bunch = lunch
- Bugs Bunny = money
- Winnie the Pooh = shoe
- Mona Lisa = pizza

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SYNONYMS

- unnecessary talking:

babbling, blabbering, blabbing, blathering, blethering, blithering, burbling, cackling, chattering, chuntering, clacking, driveling, earbashing, gabbing, gabbling, gassing, getting off the subject, going off at a tangent, going on and on (about), gossiping, harping on, holding forth, idle chatter, jabbering (on), jawing, maundering, nattering, nattering on (about), orating, pattering, prating, prattling (on), pontificating, RABBITING ON, rambling (on), rattling away (on), running off at the mouth, sermonising, slabbering, talking aimlessly, tattling, twaddling, twattling, twittering, waffling, wittering (on), yabbering, yackety-yakking, yakking, yapping, yattering

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Noise-cancelling headphones are a good antidote to people RABBITING ON in the office.”

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and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40