1.
small talk; chitchat; idle conversation
Casual conversation about everyday topics, the weather, news, and other non-serious matters.
I got absorbed in chitchat with a friend I hadn't seen in a while.
世間話に花が咲く is a set phrase meaning to get absorbed in conversation.
世間話 is small talk: casual conversation about everyday things — the weather, the news, what is happening locally — carried on for its own sake rather than to settle anything.
Formation: 世間 'society, the world at large' + 話 'talk.' The name is apt: the topics are whatever is going on out in the world, nothing personal and nothing at stake.
Collocations
- 世間話をする: to make small talk
- 世間話に花が咲く: for the chat to blossom — a set phrase for conversation that takes off and runs on happily
- 軽い世間話: light small talk
- 世間話で盛り上がる: for small talk to get lively
Similar words
- 雑談: casual chat. Broader — it can be about anything, including work or ideas — where 世間話 suggests the ordinary topics of daily life.
- おしゃべり: chatting, with the emphasis on the pleasure of talking a lot.
- 井戸端会議: literally a 'meeting at the well,' where neighbours once gathered to draw water. Chat among neighbours, often with a hint of gossip about other people.
Usage: neutral, and socially useful. 世間話 before a meeting, in a waiting room, or with a neighbour is how relationships are kept warm, so being able to sustain it is a genuine skill.