Excessive or meaningless talk; chatter or gossip that goes on and on without saying anything important.
From French bavardage, derived from bavard (talkative), which comes from baver (to drool or babble). The -age suffix creates a noun form meaning the act or result of the action. The word evolved to mean idle talk that flows as freely and meaninglessly as drool.
This French word perfectly captures something English speakers do all the time but struggle to name concisely—those conversations that are all sound and no substance. The root connection to drooling reveals how many languages metaphorically link uncontrolled speech to uncontrolled physical functions!
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