In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
TATTLE
tattle, singing, telling
(noun) disclosing information or giving evidence about another
chatter, piffle, palaver, prate, tittle-tattle, twaddle, clack, maunder, prattle, blab, gibber, tattle, blabber, gabble
(verb) speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
tattle (third-person singular simple present tattles, present participle tattling, simple past and past participle tattled)
(intransitive) To chatter; to gossip.
(intransitive, Canada, US, pejorative) Often said of children: to report incriminating information about another person, or a person's wrongdoing; to tell on somebody. [from late 15th c.]
(intransitive, obsolete) To speak like a baby or young child; to babble, to prattle; to speak haltingly; to stutter.
Synonyms
• (to chatter): see prattle
• (to report incriminating information or wrongdoing): see rat out
Noun
tattle (countable and uncountable, plural tattles)
(countable) A tattletale.
(countable, Canada, US, pejorative) Often said of children: a piece of incriminating information or an account of wrongdoing that is said about another person.
(uncountable) Idle talk; gossip; (countable) an instance of such talk or gossip.
Synonyms
• (tattletale): telltale tit; see informant or gossiper
• (idle talk): see tattle or chatter
Source: Wiktionary
Tat"tle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tattled; p. pr. & vb. n. Tattling.] Etym: [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.]
1. To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. The tattling quality of age, which is always narrative. Dryden.
2. To tell tales; to communicate secrets; to be a talebearer; as, a tattling girl.
Tat"tle, n.
Definition: Idle talk or chat; trifling talk; prate. [They] told the tattle of the day. Swift.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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9 May 2025
RIGHT
(noun) anything in accord with principles of justice; “he feels he is in the right”; “the rightfulness of his claim”
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