# Have you ever heard of this word before: Palaver? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845 "2025-02-26T21:41:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/21 "2025-02-26T22:15:40Z")
Not only do I know the word because I spent some time in the UK, I know some people who have it in the title of their company! > **[Home - What A Palaver](https://www.whatapalaver.com/)** > > \[et\_pb\_section fb\_built=”1″ make\_equal=”on” specialty=”on” background\_color\_2=”#141617″ padding\_top\_1=”12vw” padding\_right\_2=”5vw” padding\_bottom\_1=”80px” padding\_left\_1=”10vw” padding\_1\_tablet=”40px||0px|” padding\_1\_phone=””... ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/22 "2025-02-26T22:16:11Z")
It seems the word is much less common nowadays in the English language countries. In German usage the noun _Palaver_ is pretty well known, pejoratively referring to an unnecessarily protracted conversation about a subject better spoken of concisely or not at all. Curiously enough the German Wikipedia article on the word says German got the word from English. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/23 "2025-02-26T22:16:43Z")
Oh my, what a _kerfuffle_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/24 "2025-02-26T22:20:05Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I am familiar with the word (living in Ireland but I associate it more with English people). The usage I am familiar with is not as you have described. For me, it means a “to-do”, a drama, a big fuss. It’s a noun, not a verb. I am English, and this is correct. It’s usually used in the phrase “what a palaver” for something involving unnecessary fuss and difficulty. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly obscure here. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/25 "2025-02-26T22:21:03Z")
Yes I know the word but rarely use it in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/26 "2025-02-26T22:23:31Z")
It’s in crossword puzzles frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/27 "2025-02-26T22:27:49Z")
It was in a dialogue from the movie Scent of a Woman. The teenage boy tells Al Pacino, “I attend Baird School.” Al Capino says “Don’t give me that prep school palaver.” It’s not the best movie in the world yet I’ve seen it a couple times. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/28 "2025-02-26T22:37:17Z")
Never heard the word in my life, and I hung out for years with UKers. Or I should more accurately state: if I had heard or seen it somewhere, it never went beyond my short-term memory. I would not be surprised if I had seen it before and just glossed over it. After all, my degree was in English literature. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/29 "2025-02-26T22:39:37Z")
Palaver–slang from the Old West. To talk, or gossip. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/30 "2025-02-26T22:39:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve heard _palaver_ used in old westerns. It means a quick conference between people. In westerns it usually was done to resolve some issue instead of just shooting each other. +1, this is exactly what I thought of. Especially in a usage like “we’d better go palaver with the Apaches so they don’t attack us while we’re passing through their land.” I understood it to mean a quick conversation of the negotiating sort. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/31 "2025-02-26T22:46:21Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Know it, have used it. I actually used it the other day much to confused looks of the coworkers around me. I can’t say exactly where I’ve heard it used but it sounds like something a character written by Raymond Chandler or Jim Thompson would say. I feel like Robert Mitchum used it repeatedly; maybe in [_Out of the Past_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/)? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/32 "2025-02-26T22:48:34Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > what pleonastic means I learned this word because of French class—there’s something called the _ne pléonastique_, the “pleonastic _ne_,” meaning the negative particle is used in a positive sentence for no reason at all. Nobody can explain what it’s doing there, but formal French grammar requires it anyway. The first time the teacher explained this, my reaction was “You’re kidding, right?” ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/33 "2025-02-26T22:50:12Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > Count me as one who is unfamiliar with the word. I have no conscious memory of ever encountering it before, but yet, somehow I guessed “this is a synonym for ‘parley’” before reading down to this post … > [@pulykamell](#): > > Never heard the word in my life, and I hung out for years with UKers. Or I should more accurately state: if I had heard or seen it somewhere, it never went beyond my short-term memory. I would not be surprised if I had seen it before and just glossed over it. After all, my degree was in English literature. My brethren… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/34 "2025-02-26T22:50:48Z")
Count me as another who’s familiar with the use of the word in westerns. That fits in with this definition. > historical > > an improvised conference between two groups, typically those without a shared language or culture. No question that the use of the word has dropped precipitously from 200 years ago, as this [Google Ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=palavar&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3) shows. There are a couple of bumps mid-twentieth century, which might reflect the popularity of western movies and tv shows sending the word into the language. Pretty much dead in the 21st century, though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/35 "2025-02-26T22:50:59Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > “If you just went out to talk, why’d you have to shoot him?” > > “Conversation kind of dried up, ma’am.” “Windage and elevation, Mrs. Langdon. Windage and elevation.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/36 "2025-02-26T22:51:08Z")
Not even an obscure one. My latest new word which I’ve been using excessively is apricity. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/37 "2025-02-26T23:01:09Z")
Ooo, that’s a lovely word “apricity.” Up there with “petrichor” for evoking similar feelings ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/38 "2025-02-26T23:09:20Z")
Add me to the people who know it from the Dark Tower books, where it roughly means “an informal but important conversation”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/39 "2025-02-26T23:17:24Z")
I think of it as a folksy word that just means “talking”. Often with the connotation of talk that doesn’t go anywhere. As in, “there was a lot of palaver about what to do about the dead porcupine but in the end Dad just dug a hole and buried it.” But it can mean any kind of talking. I don’t use it because I’m rarely folksy except ironically. I know the word because I have a very large vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/40 "2025-02-26T23:26:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Up there with “petrichor” for evoking similar feelings Petrichor cost me a buck. When my kids and their cousins were young, I had a standing offer of a buck for anyone who could use a word I did not know. My nephew Tom won a buck on petrichor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845.md?page=3)