You’d be forgiven for mishearing this and thinking the conversation was going to be about another Aussie classic, the yabby, but however similar this word is, it has a very different meaning.
To yabber is to talk or chat; to chatter or rabbit on. It is Aussie slang thought to have originated in the language of the Wuywurrung, an Australian Aboriginal people of the vicinity of Melbourne. It is reinforced by another English word, jabber, meaning to utter rapidly, indistinctly, imperfectly, or nonsensically; chatter.
Let us know if you use this word. We’d love to have a bit of a yabber about it.
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.
