palaver •
\puh-LAV-er\ • noun 1 : a long discussion or meeting usually between
persons of
different cultures or
levels of sophistication 2 a : idle talk b : misleading or beguiling speech
Examples: "I
don't know how you can stand to listen to that palaver," said Rachel, as
she switched off the talk show her brother had been
listening to on the radio.
"The violinist
Geoff Nuttall now directs the series, with a more contemporary sensibility in
both programming and in the often corny introductory palaver carried over from
the Wadsworth era." — James R. Oestreich,
The New York Times, June 4, 2014
Did you know? During
the 18th century, Portuguese and English sailors often met during trading trips
along the West African coast. This contact prompted the English to borrow the
Portuguese palavra, which usually means "speech" or "word"
but was used by Portuguese traders with the specific meaning "discussions
with natives." The Portuguese word traces back to the Late Latin parabola,
a noun meaning "speech" or "parable," which in turn comes
from the Greek
parabolē,
meaning "juxtaposition" or "comparison."
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