yakety-yak
Definition
- Noun:
- Noisy, incessant, and trivial talk or chatter: "yakety-yak" refers to rapid, continuous, and often meaningless or gossipy conversation that is perceived as loud and annoying.
Usage
- "Yakety-yak" is an informal, slightly humorous, and often critical noun. It describes talk that is considered excessive, empty, or bothersome due to its volume and persistence.
- It is typically used in a singular form (e.g., "all that yakety-yak") to refer to the general noise of chatter.
Examples
- Noun:
- I couldn't concentrate on my work with all that yakety-yak coming from the next office.
- The meeting was pointless—just an hour of political yakety-yak.
- She tuned out the constant yakety-yak on the morning talk show.
Advanced Usage
- "yakety-yakking" (verbal noun/informal verb): The act of engaging in such noisy chatter.
- They were yakety-yakking on the phone for hours.
- Often used to dismiss or express impatience with frivolous conversation.
- Enough with the yakety-yak; let's get down to business.
Variants and Related Words
- Yak (verb/noun, informal): To talk persistently about trivial matters; chatter.
- They just yakked all afternoon.
- Yack (verb/noun, informal): A variant spelling of "yak" with the same meaning.
- Chatter (noun/verb): Rapid, trivial talk.
- Prate (verb, formal/literary): To talk foolishly or at tedious length.
Synonyms
- Blather: Lengthy and empty talk.
- Jabber: Rapid, excited, and often incomprehensible talk.
- Palaver: Prolonged and idle discussion.
- Gibberish: Unintelligible or meaningless speech.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- Yakety-yak, don't talk back: A famous lyric from the 1958 song "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters, meaning "stop the chatter and don't argue."
- My mom always says "yakety-yak, don't talk back" when I start complaining.
- All talk and no action: Criticizing someone for chattering without doing anything substantive (conceptually related, though not using the exact phrase "yakety-yak").
- The committee is all yakety-yak and no action.
Noun
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noisy talk
