Idiomer
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English · Idiom Attested

shoot the breeze

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

To chat idly or casually, without any serious topic of conversation.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Trò chuyện vô tư hoặc隨 ý mà không có chủ đề nghiêm túc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

So why do I go on expanding the company instead of putting up my feet and shooting the breeze?

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Imported from Wikipedia “English-language idioms” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29), pending review.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent buôn dưa lê to shoot the breeze; to chew the fat; to gossip Tiếng Việt Near equivalent tán hươu tán vượn to chat idly; to shoot the breeze Tiếng Việt Near equivalent nói hươu nói vượn to chat idly; to shoot the breeze Tiếng Việt Near equivalent chew the fat To chat idly or generally waste time talking. English · via buôn dưa lê

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Topics: Wind & clouds

Common questions

What does “shoot the breeze” mean?

To chat idly or casually, without any serious topic of conversation.

Is “shoot the breeze” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“buôn dưa lê” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.