back-chat

English

Verb

back-chat (third-person singular simple present back-chats, present participle back-chatting, simple past and past participle back-chatted)

1. Alternative form of backchat
   • 1998, Melissa A. Johnson, Nature and progress in rural Creole Belize, page 149:

     Most church women I know still go visiting, may "back-chat" their male partner, and may not be "quiet" at all.

   • 2008, Ben Collins, The Red Fox: The Biography of Norm Smith, page 318:

     Very few dared to back-chat Smith anyway.

   • 2009, Bill Rogers, How to Manage Children's Challenging Behaviour, page 49:

     Children may choose the fight or flight response. They may back-chat or argue or they may withdraw.

Noun

back-chat (countable and uncountable, plural back-chats)

1. Alternative form of backchat
   • 2007, Vivek Iyer, Samlee's Daughter:

     ' […] Be firm with him; tell him you have already chosen a bride. He won't dare give you back-chat.' Mother talked to Ramu in Tamil.

   • 2012, Fred Eyre, Kicked into Touch: Plus Extra Time:

     He was always very good to me but I made sure I never stepped out of line. My fears in this direction were confirmed when, later in the season, Dave Shawcross, a highly talented wing-half, had the nerve to give Jim a bit of back-chat.

   • 2015, Matthew Trevannion, “Bruised”, in Matthew Trevannion, Rachel Trezise, Tim Price, editors, Contemporary Welsh Plays, page 419:

     No, you love minimum back-chat and three square meals a day.