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''"Chewing the fat"'' or ''"chew the rags"'' are English expressions for gossiping or making friendly small talk, or a long and informal conversation with someone.
"chew the fat."
''Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 would chew on salt-hardened fat, there are no reliable historical recordings of this practice. There is even a suggestion the phrase derives from a practice by North American Indians or Inuit of chewing animal hides during their spare time, and even of British farmers chewing on cooked pork, but again, there remains to be no evidence supporting these claims, and this would require accepting a great deal of uncertainty in connecting the phrase from nautical origins to its modern metaphorical use. There are also claims the phrase is synonymous with the action of chewing on fat, or simply an allusion to the movement of the mouth during chewing.Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2008, Sourcebooks)
"Chew the fat."
''Phraseology.'' Retrieved 2010-08-09 Noting that fried fat is appealing in taste, it was regarded as a treat that someone could chew on for as long as possible to gain the most out of it. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' earliest citation for "''Chew the fat''" is from 1885 in a book by J Brunlees Patterson called ''Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India''. He implied it was a kind of general grumbling and bending of the ears of junior officers to stave off boredom, a typical part of army life. Patterson also uses "chew the rag" in the same sentence he used "chew the fat", but it is not the oldest occurrence of that phrase. Prior to the adoption of metallic cartridges, most ammunition was composed of powder and a ball wrapped in paper or cloth soaked in animal fat, which was bitten open during musket drill. Soldiers were known to chew on these ends to pass the time and reduce nerves, and in some cases to stave off cravings for chewing tobacco. Though long-since replaced by 1885, the idea of biting or chewing on fat-soaked rag ends may well have entered military parlance in this fashion prior to Patterson's recording.
"chew the fat."
''The American Heritage dictionary of idioms.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 or that women may have gossiped while quilting.
Chew-The-Fat.com
/ref> '
Chew The Fat
'' is a food and travel podcast, presented and produced b
GastroGays
(Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon), which focuses on food personalities and producers across Ireland and the UK, including Nigella Lawson, Donal Skehan and Niamh Kavanagh.
In 1999, a widespread hoax called "Life in the 1500s", false information was circulated through email regarding ''"chew the fat"''.Mikkelson, Barbara (2007-07-12)
"Life in the 1500s."
''Snopes.com'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 Among offering explanations for many phrases, the email stated: Notably,
"Chew the fat.""> "Chew the fat."
''Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11Lederer, Richard (2003, MacMillan)
"Spook etymology on the Internet."
''A man of my words: reflections on the English language.'' Section regarding this article availabl
here
Retrieved 2010-08-11 Although it has been widely accepted as accurate,Quinion, Michael (2007-11-03)
''World Wide Words.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 this misinformation has since been dispelled.
''"Chewing the fat"'' or ''"chew the rags"'' are English expressions for gossiping or making friendly small talk, or a long and informal conversation with someone.
Origin
Chew the fat
Although some sources attribute the phrase "''chew the fat''" to sailors, who during a period of resting and conversing, or while working together,Palmatier, Robert Allen (2010-08-11)"chew the fat."
''Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 would chew on salt-hardened fat, there are no reliable historical recordings of this practice. There is even a suggestion the phrase derives from a practice by North American Indians or Inuit of chewing animal hides during their spare time, and even of British farmers chewing on cooked pork, but again, there remains to be no evidence supporting these claims, and this would require accepting a great deal of uncertainty in connecting the phrase from nautical origins to its modern metaphorical use. There are also claims the phrase is synonymous with the action of chewing on fat, or simply an allusion to the movement of the mouth during chewing.Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2008, Sourcebooks)
"Chew the fat."
''Phraseology.'' Retrieved 2010-08-09 Noting that fried fat is appealing in taste, it was regarded as a treat that someone could chew on for as long as possible to gain the most out of it. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' earliest citation for "''Chew the fat''" is from 1885 in a book by J Brunlees Patterson called ''Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India''. He implied it was a kind of general grumbling and bending of the ears of junior officers to stave off boredom, a typical part of army life. Patterson also uses "chew the rag" in the same sentence he used "chew the fat", but it is not the oldest occurrence of that phrase. Prior to the adoption of metallic cartridges, most ammunition was composed of powder and a ball wrapped in paper or cloth soaked in animal fat, which was bitten open during musket drill. Soldiers were known to chew on these ends to pass the time and reduce nerves, and in some cases to stave off cravings for chewing tobacco. Though long-since replaced by 1885, the idea of biting or chewing on fat-soaked rag ends may well have entered military parlance in this fashion prior to Patterson's recording.
Chew the rag
Appearing first in print from 1875 in "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang", the excerpt reads: There is speculation this phrase relates to cloth, when ladies would work in "sewing circles
The term sewing circle usually refers to a group of people who meet regularly for the purpose of sewing, often for charitable causes while chatting, gossiping, and/or discussing.
Application to sewing
Sewing circle participants, usually women, t ...
",Ammer, Christine (1997, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)"chew the fat."
''The American Heritage dictionary of idioms.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 or that women may have gossiped while quilting.
Shared use
They first appeared synonymously as early as 1885, in J. Brunlees Patterson's "Life in the ranks of the British army in India and on board a troopship", which listed the terms in succession: It was used as a way to describe complaining or grumbling, typically by the military.Modern usage
It was not until 1907 the phrase "''chew the fat''" was used to express partaking in idle conversation, for a friendly talk, or a gossip session. It has also been used as a way to define telling tall tales. In ham radio, extended conversation, as opposed to just exchanging basic information (name, location, equipment), is called "ragchewing". '' Chewin' the Fat'' was the title of a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan,Greg Hemphill
Gregory Edward Hemphill (born 14 December 1969) is a Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his work with Ford Kiernan on the BBC Scotland comedy series ''Chewin' The Fat'' (1999–2005) and ''Still Game'' ...
and Karen Dunbar. '' Chewin' the Fat'' first started as a radio series on BBC Radio Scotland.
''Chew-The-Fat.com'' is a UK-based website (now moved to chew-the-fat.org.uk) hosting a web forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
*Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
, described as "The chat forum your mother warned you about", devoted to chat, gossip, and humorous banter and cartoons./ref> '
Chew The Fat
'' is a food and travel podcast, presented and produced b
GastroGays
(Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon), which focuses on food personalities and producers across Ireland and the UK, including Nigella Lawson, Donal Skehan and Niamh Kavanagh.
Email hoax
In 1999, a widespread hoax called "Life in the 1500s", false information was circulated through email regarding ''"chew the fat"''.Mikkelson, Barbara (2007-07-12)"Life in the 1500s."
''Snopes.com'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 Among offering explanations for many phrases, the email stated: Notably,
Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author.
After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...
propagated this story during episode eight of the second series of '' The Ricky Gervais Show'' on XFM London.
The false email spurred a reexamination of popularly sourced etymologies of many folk phrases and idioms.Wilton, David (2004, Oxford University Press)"Chew the fat.""> "Chew the fat."
''Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11Lederer, Richard (2003, MacMillan)
"Spook etymology on the Internet."
''A man of my words: reflections on the English language.'' Section regarding this article availabl
here
Retrieved 2010-08-11 Although it has been widely accepted as accurate,Quinion, Michael (2007-11-03)
''World Wide Words.'' Retrieved 2010-08-11 this misinformation has since been dispelled.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chew The Fat Human communication English phrases Internet hoaxes 1999 hoaxes Metaphors referring to food and drink