banter
light-hearted social conversation
TRANSLATION
banter = das Geplänkel --- GOOGLE INDEX banter: approximately 28,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Spirits were high at the end of a long journey, there was much BANTER, and even a certain optimism that this stranger who had just strolled up to them out of the blue in this quiet, battered town might just buy them all breakfast.
(BBC News)
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He recovered his spirits and began again upon a vein of foolish BANTER, for the amusement of the Sheriff and his guests, all being now merry with wine.
(Robin Hood, by J. Walker McSpadden)
(BBC News)
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He recovered his spirits and began again upon a vein of foolish BANTER, for the amusement of the Sheriff and his guests, all being now merry with wine.
(Robin Hood, by J. Walker McSpadden)
Did you
know?
banter
noun
- conversation which is funny and not serious
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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White House banter
Former US President Franklin Roosevelt despised much of the banter during White House social functions. As legend has it, he would sometimes amuse himself by telling guests, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." He believed few people paid attention to what was said on such occasions and the remark was indeed usually met with polite nods and smiles. One day he discovered a careful listener however. After telling a guest, "I murdered my grandmother this morning," the guest replied, "I'm sure she had it coming to her!"
Origin: Although the origin is unclear, it was the object of Jonathan Swift's scorn in a 1710 article in which he lambasted the use of words that have been "invented by some pretty fellows, such as banter, bamboozle, country put and kidney." He claimed in a subsequent article that "This polite word (banter) of theirs was first borrowed from the bullies in White-Friars, then fell among the footmen, and at last retired to the pedants." In effect, he dismissed the word as nothing more than London street slang that was responsible for polluting the English language. Where or how the bullies acquired the word was never explained however.
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SYNONYMS
chitchat, gossip, joking, persiflage, repartee, ribbing, small talk, teasing
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I enjoy the banter in a pub after a long workday."
noun
- conversation which is funny and not serious
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
White House banter
Former US President Franklin Roosevelt despised much of the banter during White House social functions. As legend has it, he would sometimes amuse himself by telling guests, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." He believed few people paid attention to what was said on such occasions and the remark was indeed usually met with polite nods and smiles. One day he discovered a careful listener however. After telling a guest, "I murdered my grandmother this morning," the guest replied, "I'm sure she had it coming to her!"
Origin: Although the origin is unclear, it was the object of Jonathan Swift's scorn in a 1710 article in which he lambasted the use of words that have been "invented by some pretty fellows, such as banter, bamboozle, country put and kidney." He claimed in a subsequent article that "This polite word (banter) of theirs was first borrowed from the bullies in White-Friars, then fell among the footmen, and at last retired to the pedants." In effect, he dismissed the word as nothing more than London street slang that was responsible for polluting the English language. Where or how the bullies acquired the word was never explained however.
---
SYNONYMS
chitchat, gossip, joking, persiflage, repartee, ribbing, small talk, teasing
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I enjoy the banter in a pub after a long workday."
