Clake

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A Scottish dialect verb meaning to gossip or chatter idly about other people's affairs
2. In Scots usage, a word for talking idly and repeating tittle-tattle or small news about neighbours
3. Describes the Scots habit of chattering gossip, passing on rumours and small talk among people

Etymology: "Clake" is a variant spelling of "claik", a Scots word for chatter or gossip, and its roots lie in the Old Norse verb "klaka", meaning to cackle or chatter. The Norse word passed into Scots, the language of Lowland Scotland and parts of northern England, where it took on the sense of idle, noisy talk. The verb can describe the act of gossiping or chattering, and the noun names the talk itself. The word belongs to a family of sounds that imitate the noise of birds and voices, so its meaning rests on sound rather than on any abstract idea. Its Scots form shows how Norse vocabulary survived in northern Britain long after the Vikings had settled there and their language had mostly faded from the south.