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You are here: Home / Language / Where Does the Phrase “Chewing the Fat” Come From and What Does the Expression Mean?

Where Does the Phrase “Chewing the Fat” Come From and What Does the Expression Mean?

May 27, 2020 by Karen Hill

During the twentieth century, “chewing the fat” came to mean passing time with informal small talk.

The phrase originated with the grumbling of nineteenth-century British sailors whose lean diet was often nothing more than the fat from barrels of salt pork.

Their whining while chewing the tough meat would expand to include complaints about every other hardship at sea and became known as “chewing the fat.”

The expression “chewing the fat” usually means gossip or casual conversation.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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