Other forms: prattling
To prattle is to chatter on about nothing in particular. Pleasant enough, and impossible to follow for long.
The word is affectionate when applied to small children, who prattle happily to themselves, and dismissive when applied to adults, where it means talking a great deal without saying anything. It takes on or away. As a noun it is the talk itself, so idle prattle is a standard phrase. Its relatives are prate, which is older, and babble, which suggests less sense still.
1verbprattleTo talk at length in a light, inconsequential way.
“She prattled on about the neighbours for an hour.”
Proto-Indo-European
*bred- — to wander, rove
Proto-Germanic
*prattuz — idle or boastful talk, deceit
Proto-West Germanic
*prattu
Old Saxon
*pratt
Middle Low German
praten
Old English
prætt
Middle English
praten
English
prate
English, today
prattle
From prate + le. Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (“to mutter”). prate comes from Middle English praten; either inherited from Old English prætt or borrowed via Middle Dutch - or Middle Low German praten (from Old Saxon pratt), all from Proto-West Germanic prattu, ultimately from Proto-Germanic prattuz (“idle or boastful talk, deceit”), from Proto-Indo-European bred- (“to wander, rove”). Related to Dutch praten (“to talk, chat”), Low German praten, dated German pfrassen, Danish prate, Swedish prata (“to talk, prate”), Faroese práta (“to talk, gossip”), Icelandic prata;; also cognate with Polish bredzić (“to rave, jabber”), Latvian bradāt (“to talk nonsense”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA