In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
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
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
29 March 2025
THOUGHTLESS
(adjective) without care or thought for others; “the thoughtless saying of a great princess on being informed that the people had no bread; ‘Let them eat cake’”
Coffee Trivia
