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to shoot the breeze

to have a chat

TRANSLATION

shoot the breeze = (gemütlich) mit jdm. plaudern

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

“(Joe Biden) is a centrist, with a 40-year career in the Senate characterised by working “across the aisle”. And he likes to SHOOT THE BREEZE. My 2019 meeting with him, scheduled for 20 minutes, turned into a glorious hour and a half, ending only when his aides dragged him almost physically from the room to catch a plane.”

Kim Darroch in The Guardian

Did you
know?

shoot the breeze

idiom

- to talk in a relaxed way about things that are not important

Cambridge Idioms Dictionary

ORIGIN

There are a couple of theories regarding the origin of the word breeze. One suggestion is that it stems from the Spanish “briza,” meaning a cold northeast wind. An alternative theory is the East Frisian “brisen,” to blow fresh and strong.

Breeze, as in the sense of a rumour, appears to have entered the English language in the late 19th century. The meaning of idle chatter then surfaced in the early 20th century, after which it eventually found its way into the expression “shoot the breeze.” 

Apart from the usual sense of a light wind, breeze is also used in a figurative sense to describe doing something quickly or casually. These situations are usually expressed using prepositional phrases:

- breeze along = to travel along casually, rapidly, and happily (I was breezing along the street when suddenly it started to rain)

- breeze away = to leave quickly and abruptly (She just breezed away and didn’t say goodbye)

- breeze through = to complete a task quickly and easily (I breezed through the test)

- breeze in/into = to enter a place quickly and in a carefree manner (He breezed into the room just as the meeting began)

SYNONYMS

babble, blab, cackle, chaffer [British], chat, chatter, chin [slang], converse, gab, gabble, gas, jabber, jaw, kibitz (also kibbitz), natter, palaver, patter, prate, prattle, rap, rattle, run on, schmooze (or shmooze), talk, twitter

SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like: 

“If you’re looking for Jim, he’s SHOOTING THE BREEZE with Jenny in the coffee corner.”

Thanks to Florian for triggering today’s OWAD!

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Paul Smith

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