chatterati

(chat.uh.RAT.ty)

n.

The elite members of the chattering classes.

Example Citation:

"While the London chatterati think a Labour landslide is a turn off, the Scottish middle classes are quite willing to participate in inevitable triumphs for the People's Party."

— Alex Bell, "A vote for the middle-class 'struggle'," The Herald, May 14, 2001

Earliest Citation:

On the launch of the Scottish section in October 1988, the chatterati of media and advertising dismissed it as a ''spoiler'' for Scotland on Sunday conveniently ignoring the fact that it had been in the planning stages for months.

— "Newspaper pays price for not observing basic rules," The Sunday Times, July 22, 1990

Notes:

The chatterati includes members of the media (especially columnists), talk show hosts, TV talking heads, and so on. Although such people have been around for a long time, their particular social niche has only had a name since about 1990.

Chatterati combines chattering classes, "the social group consisting of those people who are educated, articulate, and opinionated," and the suffix -rati, "the elite or intelligentsia of a particular group." Chattering classes is a British colloquialism that entered the language in the mid 1980s:

"Despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth among the chattering classes, the outlook for British broadcasting is actually rather cheery."

— "Outlook cheery," The Times, August 11, 1985

Thanks to subscriber Alex Poole for spying today's word.

Related Words:

banalysis

barking head

belligerati

buckraker

commentariat

culture of confession

Oprahization

punditariat

punditeer

schmooseoisie

shouting head

triviata

Categories:

Media and Journalism

Television

People