"Chew the fat"真的不是“吃肥肉”！

前两天下班和一个好久不见的外国朋友吃饭，席间她和我说：We haven't seen each other for a long time, I'd love to chew the fat with you tonight. 听到这句话我真的是震惊了！我们好久不见，为什么要跟我chew the fat?！吃肥肉？心想：你明知道我最近在减肥，为什么要我大半夜的陪你一起吃肥肉！？

之后我才明白，原来chew the fat真的不是吃肥肉！而是“聊天，闲谈”的意思，比如你想约一个朋友出来聊聊天，就可以说，Why don't we have a coffee and chew the fat for a while?不如我们出来喝喝咖啡聊聊天？那么说到这里，“聊天，闲聊”还可以如何表达呢？

Chat 聊天

I just had a chat with Benny.
我刚刚在和Benny聊天。

Chitchat 闲聊

Everyone's hands are full recently, we don't even have time for chitchat.
大家最近都很忙，连聊天的时间都没有。

Small talk 闲谈

Making small talk is an art that can be learned.
闲谈是一门值得学习的艺术。

Gossip 八卦，说闲话

Sarah always talks gossip, no one likes her.
Sarah特别喜欢八卦别人，没人喜欢她。

Shoot the breeze 闲扯

It was raining so hard last night I just stayed in the dorm and shot the breeze with a couple of friends.
昨晚雨下得很大，所以我就待在宿舍里和几个朋友闲扯来着。

（来源：华尔街英语  编辑：Julie）