# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**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 28, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/101 "2025-02-28T14:19:38Z")
“What a full”? Is that an actual expression or a typo? Never heard it. Also not sure I’ve ever heard “what a ball ache” expressed in those exact words, but I can figure out what it means. Or are those supposed to be UK expressions? ---
**Author:** ![Mavis\_Topholese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mavis\_Topholese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavis_Topholese)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/102 "2025-03-01T05:42:18Z")
came in here to mention Shakes The Clown, in which Tom “Spongebob Squarepants” as the evil Binky The Clown menacingly spits the word out while concocting one of his schemes. Terrific film, best alcoholic clown movie EVER ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/103 "2025-03-01T06:02:19Z")
I guess I’m the only to admit to being an old Opie and Anthony fan. Every day the intro to the show would end with a line from the Russ Meyer “classic” _Mondo Topless._ “But enough of this palaver, let’s get the show on the road.” The movie is a documentary about topless dancers in the 60s. The narration is hilariously over the top. It’s as if the narrator had a brand new thesaurus and was eager to use every word. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/104 "2025-03-01T06:08:52Z")
> [@Slight\_Off\_Hand](#): > > Pretty sure I first ran across it while reading “Time Enough for Love” by Robert Heinlein. Lazarus Long uses it when first speaking with Ira. That would place my introduction to late 80s to mid 90s. That could also be my introduction to the word. I read my first Heinlein in 1983/4. However, when I read the OP, I could picture David Tennant saying it. And I even found an [interview](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/david-tennant-is-the-only-witness-to-his-own-murder-in-litvinenko/akvr2q9o0) where he used it, “The act of getting into the bed and getting all of the wires attached, the heart monitor, the hospital gown arranged in the correct way…it was quite a palaver.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/105 "2025-03-01T06:37:48Z")
I have been acquainted with palaver since the '70s at least. In my corner of the woods, its use has been essentially synonymous with “blather”, almost always as a noun, and maybe once or twice a year in frequency. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845/106 "2025-03-01T12:53:14Z")
Should have been “fuss”. Not sure how I messed that up that badly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-this-word-before-palaver/1014845.md?page=5)