Why a chat ?

[poundcoin]

Not sure if it was just a regional word but if something was filthy or dirty it may be described as "chatty" .

This was probably from Tommies in WW1 calling the lice in their uniform "chats" .
The French for lice is nothing like that (Les poux) and from my schoolboy French "chat" was cat .

So DAK why soldiers called lice , chats ?

This from the Arbroath Herald , Dec 1918 confirming the word chat and that they preferred the seams of clothing .
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/437/3214 ... a1b4_b.jpg

[TwmSionCati]

The Oxford English Dictionary (2000) doesn't know either:

chat, n.7 (Thieves' Cant.): A louse.
- 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Chatts, lice.
- 1725 in New Cant. Dict.
- 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Chats, lice.

[poundcoin]

The Oxford English Dictionary (2000) doesn't know either:

chat, n.7 (Thieves' Cant.): A louse.
- 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Chatts, lice.
- 1725 in New Cant. Dict.
- 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Chats, lice.

Crikey much older than WW1 then .

[DrFfybes]

I always thought it came from 'scratch' or 'itch'.

[redsturgeon]

I enjoy an Indian starter called chicken chaat.

Looking at Wikipedia it says this:

Chaat (Hindi/Nepali: चाट, Urdu/Punjabi: چاٹ ) is a term describing savory snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or food carts in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.[1][2] With its origins in Uttar Pradesh,[3] chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of South Asia. The word derives from Hindi cāṭ चाट (tasting, a delicacy), from cāṭnā चाटना (to lick), from Prakrit caṭṭei चट्टेइ (to devour with relish, eat noisily).[4]

Knowing how many words we have borrowed from Hindi it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that going for a "chaat" became synonymous with having an informal conversation with or without accompanying savoury snacks.

John

[bungeejumper]

So much for Chatsworth House, then!

BJ

[poundcoin]

....words we have borrowed from Hindi it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility that going for a "chaat" became synonymous with having an informal conversation with or without accompanying savoury snacks.

John

Whilst having a "chaat" may as well accompany it with a cup of "char".