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Posted: **Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:38 pm**

Hi there,

Can anyone help me with the meaning of pratty? I think it is a slang word. Thanks.

Posted: **Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:07 am**

Dear Nats211,

According to one web site I found it is

"pratty = party but totally a million times awesomer"

But I don't know how reliable that definition is.

Cheers,

Posted: **Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:48 pm**

In what context did you find this word?
British slang: "prat" for "idiot".

-gailr

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:30 pm**

Hmmm, several places it could have come from:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

prat

PRONUNCIATION: prăt
NOUN: Slang The buttocks.
ETYMOLOGY: Origin unknown.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

prattle

SYLLABICATION: prat·tle
PRONUNCIATION: prăt' l
VERB: Inflected forms: prat·tled, prat·tling, prat·tles

INTRANSITIVE VERB: To talk or chatter idly or meaninglessly; babble or prate.
TRANSITIVE VERB: To utter or express by chattering foolishly or babbling.
NOUN: 1. Idle or meaningless chatter; babble. 2. A sound suggestive of such chattering; a babbling noise.
ETYMOLOGY: Frequentative of prate.
OTHER FORMS: prattler —NOUN
prattling·ly —ADVERB

Posted: **Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:17 pm**

Gzer, are you hinting that this word is derived from "talking out of one's butt?"

Just wondering.

-gailr

Posted: **Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:34 pm**

Gzer, are you hinting that this word is derived from "talking out of one's butt?"

...another way of saying "cheeky comments"...? I don't want to assume...

-Tim

Posted: **Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:38 pm**

Well I think we now know where the term "Talking out of your ass" comes from

Posted: **Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:52 pm**

Well, I have to admit I didn't make the connection between prat and prattle and talking out one's backside, but that comic connection did make me realize the origin of pratfall:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

pratfall

SYLLABICATION: prat·fall
PRONUNCIATION: prăt' fôl'
NOUN: 1. A fall on the buttocks. 2. A humiliating error, failure, or defeat: “His characters not only survive their snarled problems and pratfalls but learn from their experiences” (Joyce Carol Oates).

Alas, a bit more research shows that the prat-prattle-barking backside connection will probably fall on its own prat:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

prate

PRONUNCIATION: prāt
VERB: Inflected forms: prat·ed, prat·ing, prates

INTRANSITIVE VERB: To talk idly and at length; chatter.
TRANSITIVE VERB: To utter idly or to little purpose.
NOUN: Empty, foolish, or trivial talk; idle chatter.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English praten, from Middle Dutch prāten.
OTHER FORMS: prater —NOUN
prating·ly —ADVERB

Then again, if someone can show that prate is descended from prat (perhaps via the French péter?) . . .

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"Pratty" Definition