In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
SMATTER
smatter
(verb) speak with spotty or superficial knowledge; “She smatters Russian”
babble, blather, smatter, blether, blither
(verb) to talk foolishly; “The two women babbled and crooned at the baby”
dabble, smatter, play around
(verb) work with in an amateurish manner; “She dabbles in astronomy”; “He plays around with investments but he never makes any money”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
smatter (third-person singular simple present smatters, present participle smattering, simple past and past participle smattered)
(intransitive) To talk superficially; to babble, chatter.
(transitive) To speak (a language) with spotty or superficial knowledge.
(transitive, figuratively) To study or approach superficially; to dabble in.
To have a slight taste, or a slight, superficial knowledge, of anything; to smack.
Noun
smatter (plural smatters)
A smattering (small number or amount).
A smattering (superficial knowledge).
Anagrams
• Matters, matters
Source: Wiktionary
Smat"ter, v. i. Etym: [OE. smateren to make a noise; cf. Sw. smattra to clatter, to crackle, G. schmettern to dash, crash, to warble, quaver.]
1. To talk superficially or ignorantly; to babble; to chatter. Of state affairs you can not smatter. Swift.
2. To have a slight taste, or a slight, superficial knowledge, of anything; to smack.
Smat"ter, v. t.
1. To talk superficially about.
2. To gain a slight taste of; to acquire a slight, superficial knowledge of; to smack. Chaucer.
Smat"ter, n.
Definition: Superficial knowledge; a smattering.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Coffee Trivia
