AEE 2340: Do You Have the Gift of Gab in English?

Summary

All Ears English Podcast Episode: AEE 2340: Do You Have the Gift of Gab in English? Release Date: January 15, 2025 Hosts: Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan

---

Episode Overview

In Episode 2340 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into the art of conversation in English, focusing on the concept of having the "gift of gab." The episode explores various facets of small talk, chitchat, and deeper conversations, providing listeners with nuanced vocabulary and practical examples to enhance their conversational skills in American English.

Defining Chit Chat vs. Chatting vs. Gab

The discussion begins with distinguishing between chit chat, chatting, and gab. Lindsay and Michelle emphasize that while all these terms relate to informal conversation, they carry different connotations regarding depth and intent.

• Chit Chat: Described as small talk or casual conversation about unimportant topics. Lindsay notes, "Chit chat is small talk, right. It's casual conversation about unimportant topics" (03:57).

• Chatting: Slightly deeper than chit chat, chatting can sometimes involve more substantial topics but generally remains light. Michelle adds, "Anytime you say chit chatting as a verb, you could just say chatting" (07:08).

• Gab: Implies talking at length about trivial matters. Lindsay explains, "Gabbing sort of means at length" (09:44). Michelle connects gabbing to gossiping, though they clarify the differences.

Vocabulary and Usage

The hosts introduce a range of vocabulary related to casual conversations:

1. Chit Chat (Noun & Verb):

   • Noun: "The dinner was fun. Lots of chit chat and laughter." (04:20)
   • Verb: "I was chit chatting with the lady at the park" (05:10)

2. Chat (Noun & Verb):

   • Noun: Typically refers to online conversations. Lindsay states, "We wouldn't say lots of chat and laughter" (08:39)
   • Verb: "The happy hour yesterday was great. I chatted with pretty much everyone there." (07:23)

3. Chatter:

   • "I hear a lot of chatting. Can we keep it down?" (07:41)
   • Additionally refers to background noise or information streams, especially in contexts like security: "There's been chatter on this" (08:02).

4. Gab:

   • "She was gabbing at the park when she got the call." (09:57)
   • Often used to describe longer, trivial conversations.

5. Gift of Gab:

   • An idiomatic expression praising someone's conversational abilities. Lindsay defines it, "It means someone likes to talk. They're very good at making conversation" (10:35).
   • Example: "I have the gift of gab. But not so much on the phone." (14:07)

Role Play Example

To illustrate these concepts, Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role play where friends reunite after a few months apart. This scenario showcases the practical application of the discussed vocabulary and grammar structures.

Key Highlights from the Role Play:

• Chit Chat and Gab:

  • Lindsay: "Sorry I've been gabbing so much about my kids. How are you?" (13:49)
  • Michelle: "I'm just glad to be able to chit chat with you." (14:00)

• Grammar Insights:

  • Use of present perfect vs. past perfect: "It had been way too long" versus "It's been way too long." Lindsay explains the preference for present perfect in contemporary conversation (15:15).

• Practical Tips:

  • Importance of initiating conversations with small talk before delving into deeper topics.
  • Setting intentional communication times to maintain connections, especially over long distances.

Grammar Insights

During the role play, the hosts highlight subtle grammar nuances that enhance conversational fluency:

• Present Perfect vs. Past Perfect:

  • Lindsay notes, "It’s been way too long" is more commonly used than the past perfect "It had been way too long" in immediate conversational contexts (15:27).

• Verb Usage:

  • Differentiating between using "chatting" and "chit chatting" to convey the depth of conversation (07:23).

Conclusions and Tips

As the episode wraps up, Lindsay and Michelle offer practical advice for listeners aiming to improve their conversational English:

1. Embrace Small Talk: Starting conversations with light topics can ease interactions and build rapport.

2. Understand Nuances: Recognizing the subtle differences between similar terms like "chit chat" and "gab" can enhance communication effectiveness.

3. Be Intentional: Especially in maintaining long-distance friendships, setting specific times for communication can foster stronger connections.

4. Develop Conversational Skills: Having the "gift of gab" is a valuable social skill, beneficial in various professions and personal relationships.

Notable Quotes

• Chit Chat Definition:

  "Chit chat is small talk, right. It's casual conversation about unimportant topics." – Lindsay (03:57)

• Gift of Gab:

  "It means someone likes to talk. They're very good at making conversation." – Lindsay (10:35)

• Role Play Insight:

  "I've never had the gift of gab. All right, that's not really true for me. I definitely have the gift of gab." – Lindsay (14:07)

Final Thoughts

Episode 2340 serves as a comprehensive guide for intermediate to advanced English learners seeking to refine their conversational skills. By dissecting everyday interactions and providing actionable vocabulary and grammar tips, Lindsay and Michelle empower listeners to navigate social conversations with confidence and authenticity.

---

For more episodes and resources, visit allearsenglish.com and explore their iOS and Android apps to follow along with transcripts and expand your vocabulary effortlessly.

Transcript

[A]

This is an Allers English podcast. Episode 2240. Do you have the gift of gab in English?

[B]

Welcome to the all ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe do you like to chit chat? Chat and gab today. Get four ways to talk about talking with others in English.

[A]

If you are a band 5 or 6 student, then your study plan will look different than if you are a band 7 or 8 student. But you need to know your estimated score range to know how to prepare. Take the next step and get your estimated ielts band score. Answer a few quick questions and get your score plus resources to push that score [e-mail] my score. Hello, Lindsay. How are you?

[B]

Feeling good today, Aubrey, how are you today? How's it going?

[A]

Excellent. I have a question for you. Do you like to chitchat?

[B]

Do I like to chitchat? Sometimes I do if I feel like it's interesting, chitchat. But sometimes chitchat can be kind of superficial.

[A]

You don't seem like a great chit chatter to me. Right. This is very much like small talk superficial. Like you said. I have a feeling that you will, like, ask an interesting question to try to get deeper before you let the chitchat go very long.

[B]

I'm guilty of this. And, and sometimes my partner says you go too deep too fast. You know, when you're at a party, people, you need to be more superficial. But it just bores me, you know, so not much of a chit chatter.

[A]

Yeah, I'm the same where sometimes I'll have like an interesting question I've been thinking about and I'll throw it out there and then immediately realize, like, I should have let the chit chat go a few minutes longer, I think.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People's eyes are like, oh, wow, that was quick. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, it's either that or maybe you're just at the wrong party. I mean, sometimes it's just, it's a matter of just who you're around. Right. Because sometimes those questions could be right with a certain group, but generally, yeah, for a mainstream party, mainstream culture, too deep, right? Yeah.

[A]

Right. So we're getting into. We've got some great vocab today about chitchat and from similar phrases. So we want to make sure that you guys have the app. Every week we pull keywords so that you can very easily add them to your vocab list with just one tap. You also get to follow along the transcripts. That's so helpful. So if you haven't checked out the app, go to allersenglish.com app.

[B]

Yes. And you get that seven day free trial. So just go ahead and sign up for a premium plan and you get free for the first seven days. You'll see you'll get your weekly role play at least once as a premium member. The review of all the keywords or many of the keywords from the week plays are awesome.

[A]

Right? We've started doing this as a feature just for premium members where you see a role play with all a lot of the keywords of all of the episodes of the week. So you can see how they can come together in one conversation.

[B]

Yes. I love that. I love that. So go over to the app. It's allersenglish.com app. Choose iOS or Android and download it now. Okay, Aubry. So today we are talking about this topic of chit chatting. Chatting and different ways to say this. And there are a lot of nuanced meanings here between.

[A]

Exactly. Right. Because there is a big difference between conversation, discussions and chitchat. Chit chat is small talk, Right. It's casual conversation about unimportant topics. We use it as both a noun and a verb, so we'll give examples for both. But like you said, Lindsay, some people get impatient with chit chat. Like they would rather talk about something important more quickly.

[B]

Yeah, Superficial. It can feel really superficial. So for example, the dinner was fun. Lots of chit chat and laughter. And it doesn't have to always be negative. Of course. It depends on who's saying it. And maybe it was interesting chit chat with certain people. Interesting chit chat can exist, right?

[A]

True. It really depends. And we do use it more generally like this. Like this doesn't mean people were just talking about the weather and.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Super like. But it kind of means we didn't go super deep. No one's talking politics. If you said there was lots of chit chat, but we're probably all sort of catching up about what's been going on in our lives.

[B]

Exactly. What's another example, Aubrey?

[A]

Yeah, maybe at work you might say the meeting went long since there was a lot of chit chat. This kind of means like between agenda items people are bringing up, they're like saying, oh, you'll never guess what happened to. Right. There's some.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Small talk. There's some chit chat happening.

[B]

Yeah. And I think we mostly use it as a. As a noun, but there is a way to use it as a verb. Right. So, for example, I was chit chatting with the lady at the park and realized we went to the same university.

[A]

Right, exactly. Right. So what's interesting here, and we're going to dive into chat in a second. Anytime you say chit chatting as a verb, you could just say chatting, I was chatting with the lady work. But sometimes you will hear people say chit chatting.

[B]

Yeah. It's interesting why they add that chit. Right. When it comes to why not just. I would tend to say just chatting. But how does it kind of change it?

[A]

Like, look, I think it does imply a little more superficiality. If I would say I was chatting with a lady at the park, that could be about politics. But if I say I was chit chatting, we were not talking about anything.

[B]

Important because even chatting is pretty light. And we'll talk about that now. But chit chatting, even lighter. Okay.

[A]

Right. And you might say, you know, you could say, I don't really like to chit chat. So here you're using it as an infinitive. Still a verb. Right. And then I'd rather talk about important things.

[B]

Yeah. And we have a public service announcement for our listeners. Right. Aubrey, tell us about this.

[A]

Yeah. You guys have heard this before. Jessica and I know we say this on the I Energy podcast sometimes. You cannot always trust the thesaurus if you're looking for synonyms. I put chitchat in because I was just curious what would come up. And I feel very few of those words could I actually use as a synonym. Right. It was like blather, jabber, murmur, and words I haven't heard of. I don't know if they're more like in the UK twaddle tattle, which is more like. Anyway, I was like, these aren't really synonyms. So I could understand. I could see someone looking in the thesaurus and then using words that have a more nuanced meaning.

[B]

Yeah. You really need to learn words in context. I mean, that's why we're here. That's why we do role plays in almost every single episode. We need to know nuances, especially at the B2C1 level where many of our listeners are.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. Right. So one word that does mean the same as chit chat is just chat as a verb. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This Gets a little tricky because chat as a noun functions a little differently. So as a verb, I would totally say. Right. The happy hour yesterday was great. I chatted with pretty much everyone there. It's more just means just talked. I talk to everyone there.

[B]

Okay. Or. But as a noun, right? Or jaron. Chatting. There was a lot of chatting during the meeting. You could hear that too, right?

[A]

Exactly right. You might say chatter or chatting. We use it this way as a noun. There was a lot of chatting happening. Or I hear a lot of chatting. Can we keep it down? Yeah.

[B]

And I think the word chatter, so chatter would be a good synonym for that. Right. Instead of. You could say it in the same moment. But the word chatter I've also heard can mean, I don't know when, like, FBI agents are investigating things, like any kind of attack that's going to happen, they'll go and they'll say, oh, there's been chatter on this. That means kind of in the back channels, whatever sources they use, whichever phones.

[A]

They'Ve tapped, they're here hearing the chatter from all of these things. Right.

[B]

And it doesn't mean it's like two ladies talking at a party. Right. It's more like there's signals, there's information, there's activity. Right. So I think that's an interesting way to use it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely right. It means both of those things. And then as a noun, this is interesting because chat we don't use the same way as chit chat as a noun. Right. It means usually more of like an online conversation. Right. Did you see the message in the group chat? And yes. We wouldn't replace like this when I said the dinner was fun. Lots of chit chat and laughter. We wouldn't say lots of chat and laughter. We can't use it that way as a noun.

[B]

Right. That's interesting, huh? Yeah.

[A]

Weird.

[B]

Aubrey, are you involved in a lot of, like, WhatsApp chat? Group chats, like family, friends, ongoing, constantly. Do you do that kind of thing?

[A]

Yes, I feel like I'm in so many of them. And often there are new ones that will be formed that are like, minus someone because they had a birthday maybe, and there's a surprise. So then you have so many different ones that you lose track of who's in which one.

[B]

I love that. Yeah, that's a reality of our modern, you know, modern tech. This is how we communicate now. It's another way of socializing. 100.

[A]

Yes, absolutely.

[B]

Okay, what else?

[A]

All right, so the next one, I, when I looked at the thesaurus One of those that I feel like is a good synonym is the verb gab. Right. This also means, you know, it's usually about trivial matters if you're gabbing. If you say someone likes to gab, but it sort of implies that you're talking at length. I wouldn't say people were gabbing. If it were a 30 second conversation and they left, you could say that chit chat, it could be quick. Gabbing sort of means at length.

[B]

Yeah. For some reason when I think of gabbing, I think of gossiping, but I don't think it's not the same thing. But it could. You could be gabbing and gossiping at the same time.

[A]

Potentially. Definitely. They could go hand in hand for sure.

[B]

So an example, she was gabbing at the park when she got the call. So she was just talking.

[A]

Exactly. Or I have a friend that's fun to gab with. And this, this might mean gossip, but it could. You're talking about anything. Right. It does imply trivial matters. This I would not assume you're talking about deep political conversations or, you know, how can we serve in our community if we say we're gabbing? It kind of just means we're just like chit chatting.

[B]

Yeah. So most of these phrases from today are really about superficial conversations.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Not deeper ones. Yeah. Then we have gift of gab. And I do hear this in places or read this in places. Sometimes I do too.

[A]

This is very idiomatic. It means someone likes to talk. They're very good at making conversation. I think this is a great compliment. If someone said, tells me that I have the gift of gab, sure, it's good.

[B]

It's a great life skill. That is for sure. For example, I'm not worried about him meeting my friends. He has the gift of gab. So I think he'll be fine. And that's really nice. When your partner is just really strong socially, you just don't have to worry about them. They could go off on their own for hours and they'd be totally fine.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Right. This is ideal. When you bring. You're having friends meet each other. If they don't have the gift of gab, you feel like you need to keep them there and talk with them, protect them included in the conversation. If they have the gift of gab, you can leave them. They're going to be chatting with everyone in the room.

[B]

Yeah. It's a good thing for sure. What's another example?

[A]

You might say a good lawyer has the gift of gab. Right. This is a lot of professions. They need to be. They need to enjoy speaking in front of people. So this is interesting because it's not just about trivial matters. You just mean they like to speak. They're good at speaking. Right.

[B]

I would think lawyers. Yes. I would say more like argue or not argue, but create an argument. Create a sort of reasoning. Right. But also reporters are really good investigative reporters, right?

[A]

Oh, yes, good point. Right. Because they're able to, like, make people feel comfortable chatting and then, you know, get the information out of them that they want.

[B]

That's huge. A hugely important skill for a reporter.

[A]

Yes, totally.

[B]

It's a new year, and if you're in charge of hiring and you're faced with an open position, you need to hire the right person fast. As a business owner myself, I've learned that competing for great talent is no joke. You need the right tools. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites. Indeed Sponsored Jobs helps you stand out and hire fast. With Sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster, and it makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, Sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. I love that Indeed makes hiring fast because you're able to target your search to specific geographic locations. Just how fast is Indeed? In the minute I've been Talking to you, 23 hires were made on Indeed According to Indeed Data worldwide. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a 75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com aee just go to indeed.coma right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com a e e terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Okay, Aubrey, so let's do a role play. So here we are, friends meeting up after not having seen each other for some amount of time.

[A]

So perfect.

[B]

A couple months. Okay.

[A]

Yeah. Sorry I've been gabbing so much about my kids. How are you?

[B]

Ah, doing okay. I'm just glad to be able to chit chat with you. It had been way too long.

[A]

I agree. We need to do this more often.

[B]

Seriously. We used to meet up to chat weekly. Life gets so busy.

[A]

I know. And I'm bad at staying in touch too. I've never had the gift of gab. All right, that's not really true for me. I Definitely have the gift of gab. But not so much on the phone. I'm not a phone talker is how I say it. So I. I'll lose touch with friends if they live far away. But then once we're in person, we're gonna be chit chatting away.

[B]

Yeah, it can be hard. You have to be really intentional about the phone. Making phone dates with friends. It's a lot of work. True.

[A]

It's true. Especially if friends, like, need contact more often. Right. Then that's a good idea to set a date. Be like, we're gonna talk on this day.

[B]

Exactly. Exactly. So let's see what we said here. Aubry, you said, sorry, I've been gabbing so much about my kids. How are you? So it looks like we were already in this conversation. You've been talking. Now you're gonna flip it back to me.

[A]

Yeah, we've been chatting. And then I started talking about my kids at length. This is a great way to say, oh, sorry, I was gabbing so long about this one topic. Yeah.

[B]

Yes. Yes. And then I said, doing okay. I'm just glad to be able to chit chat with you. Right. So just, I'm enjoying the time chatting or chit chatting with you.

[A]

Yes, exactly. And both would work. I'm just glad to be able to chat with you or to chit chat with you. Very interchangeable there.

[B]

Yeah. And I want to highlight some grammar here, Aubry. So here we said it had been way too long, but we could also have said, and I might more commonly just say, it's been way too long. So present perfect work.

[A]

Right. They're both accurate. This is kind of the tricky thing about past perfect. We don't use it that often. It's accurate here, but often we just skip it and say, oh, it's been way too long.

[B]

Right. Because we're kind of.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We talk about two steps back with past perfect, but we're kind of still right in this moment. Right. We're not too far away from it. The further away we get, the more likely we are to use that past perfect.

[A]

Yeah, good point.

[B]

Yeah. What else, Aubry?

[A]

And then you said we used to meet up to chat weekly. So this is where we use this as a verb. This means the same as chit chat, right?

[B]

Yep. Nice. And then you deployed your favorite phrase here. I'm bad at staying in touch too. I've never had the gift of gab.

[A]

Yes. This is a fun compliment. I think that's a fun connection skill. If you meet someone who is good at talking. Loves to talk. This is nice to say. You have the gift of gab. It's a very positive way to say, oh, you're so good at talking to people.

[B]

Yeah, super interesting. Well, there's another episode that our listeners could get into to hear more of us gabbing. Right. Talking, chatting. Chit chatting on the podcast.

[A]

I love this one. It was episode 1052. So maybe come back to the blog so you don't have To scroll aways 3 questions to consider when you start a conversation with someone who is working. I really loved that episode because you might want to chitchat at work and just gab away, but if they're working, you might some things you want to think about before you jump into that conversation.

[B]

I. That's really important. And by the way, I want to mention, if you're listening in the app, the iOS Android app, you actually don't have to go to the blog. You could just go to the search bar at the very top of the episode list and type in a unique word. For example, you could type in working or three questions and that episode will come up. Okay.

[A]

An even easier way to dive into the back catalog.

[B]

Yes. Love it. Aubry, where do we leave our listeners for today?

[A]

Well, first of all, don't hesitate to chit chat. Right. You might be more like Lindsay, where you'd rather talk about deep topics, but it is vital to start conversations with a little bit of chit chat. You know, just. Yeah, that small talk, asking people just kind of warm up before we dive deeper.

[B]

Yeah, you really, you have to start somewhere. It's not realistic to go deeper right away. No one does that. That's not normal. Right. So start light and then if you feel like you have a connection, start to ask more interesting questions from there. All right?

[A]

Absolutely right. And today's vocab gives you fun options for chatting about chatting. Because we do this right. You notice in this role play, all of this could come up, right? You want to have many ways to say it.

[B]

I love it. So good. Great topic today, Aubry. And I'll see you next time. All right, have a good one time. Bye bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our 2 minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.