Meaning of coffee klatch | Babel Free

Definitions

A social gathering for conversation while drinking coffee.

Equivalents

Examples

“Recently, on a wintry Sunday, some 2,500 white Chicago area residents embarked on a strange safari across the city, determined to do what most of them had never done before—visit⟳ a Negro home. Eager to purge themselves of ignorance about the city's "other half," they were participants in Interracial Home Visit⟳ Day, a "Coffee Klatsch" co-sponsored by local Catholic, Jewish and Protestant groups in an effort to eliminate racial bigotry and hate⟳.”

“Gossip seems to manifest itself in its purest form⟳ in the coffee-klatsch. From everyday experience⟳ a coffee-klatsch is typically a circle of acquaintances who—either in a café or at home in a living room—gather for coffee and cake and unburdened by pressing obligations, turn⟳ their attention to one thing: the discussion of the flaws and actions of their absent acquaintances and endless talk⟳ about things that do not concern⟳ them.”

“Coffee also connects me to my girlfriends. You may think⟳ of a coffee klatch as old-fashioned or outmoded, a bunch of housewives gossiping in a suburban breakfast nook, but a klatch is what you make⟳ it.”

“A coffee klatch (or klatsch) is a small, informal discussion with a group of people in a private home, usually with light⟳ refreshments. Originally the term simply meant people getting together for coffee and conversation. But for public participation purposes, a coffee klatch is more like⟳ the coffees scheduled by politicians during a campaign. There is usually a short presentation, followed by questions, answers, and discussion. The fact that a coffee klatch is held in a private home changes the dynamic considerably from a public meeting, as participants are usually on their best behavior because they are guests in a home. […] Because the number⟳ of people who can meet⟳ in a private home is limited, you may need⟳ to hold⟳ a series of coffee klatches to reach⟳ more people.”

“Some sources suggest⟳ that coffee klatch was coined by husbands who, expressing their inherent displeasure of being excluded from the inner female coffee sanctum, used the term as a disparaging reference to their coffee-drinking wives. In the postwar baby boom years of American suburbia, the coffee klatch served as a means for the stay-at-home mother and nonworking married woman to build⟳ relationships and communicate with other women, thus easing the sense⟳ of isolation for some. The term may have⟳ returned along with GIs formerly stationed in Europe. German immigrants seeking the familiar continued to practice the custom by inviting their newfound neighbors.”

“[I]f a person was to talk⟳ about an issue⟳ one way in her morning coffee klatch and yet another way in response to a telephone interviewer later in the day, which one is her real opinion? Both are real and both have⟳ importance.”

CEFR level