blathering

Blathering refers to the act of talking at length in a nonspecific, aimless, or foolish manner, often without making a clear point. It can involve repetition, irrelevant details, or inflated language that obscures the speaker's intent.

Etymology: The term is informal. It is related to blether and blather, especially in Scottish English, where blether means idle talk or chatter. The exact origin is uncertain, but the sense of long-winded, trivial talk is established in modern usage.

Usage and context: Blathering appears in everyday speech, media commentary, office meetings, and online discussions. It is generally pejorative, signaling impatience with excessive, unfocused talking; it can be employed humorously or self-deprecatingly.

Relationship to other terms: Blathering overlaps with rambling, prattling, gibbering, and gabbling, but differs in emphasis on aimless, nonsubstantive content. Rambling may wander topics; prattle implies childish or trivial talk; gibbering or gabbling suggests rapid, inarticulate speech.

Impact and management: Blathering can reduce clarity, waste time, and frustrate listeners. In practice, reducing blathering involves clarifying purpose, structuring discourse, limiting digressions, and summarizing key points. In writing, editing to remove extraneous sentences achieves similar effect.