Practical Terms for Everyday Life: 閒話家常、三姑六婆、喝咖啡聊是非

 Today, let's look at practical terms for everyday life.

閒話家常 chitchat

• It means having casual conversations about daily life in a relaxed and friendly manner. Topics tend to be simple, such as family, food, the weather, or what you did over the weekend.
  
  A similar term is "家長裡短" (domestic trivia). It literally means "family strengths and neighborhood shortcomings" and refers to trivialities of family life or gossip among neighbors. However, since the term has negative connotations, it is less commonly used.

• 例句：
• 別在那邊閒話家常了，去工作！
  
• Alright, cut the chitchat, back to work!
• 那位太太常拉著人家長裡短的，是附近有名的八婆。
  That lady is always cornering people to gossip about domestic trivia; she is the neighborhood's notorious busybody.
  

• 八婆 is a slang term originating from 香港(Hong Kong). It refers to a nosy, meddlesome woman who has a big mouth and loves to stir up trouble. It is usually used in a derogatory or mocking way.

三姑六婆 Nosy busybodies

• Though the term is now often used to describe meddlesome women who love to gossip, similar to a "八婆," it originally referred to specific female professions in ancient times. These were among the few occupations where women could earn an independent income.
  
• 三姑 were:
• 尼姑(Buddhist Nuns): Female monastics in Buddhism.
• 道姑(Taoist Nuns): Female monastics in Taoism.
• 卦姑(Fortune Tellers): Women who performed divination and fortune-telling.
  
• 六婆 were:
• 牙婆(Brokers): Middlewomen are involved in trafficking people.
• 媒婆(Matchmakers): Marriage intermediaries.
• 師婆(Sorceresses/Mediums): Who can draw talismans, cast spells, and communicate with spirits, similar to spirit mediums.
• 虔婆(Madams): Typically referring to the owners of brothels. also known as "鴇母." 
• 藥婆(Medicine Women): Sellers of folk remedies, abortifacients, or hallucinogens—drugs usually not found in regular pharmacies.
• 穩婆(Midwives): Primarily responsible for delivering babies; some were also tasked with examining female corpses or the bodies of female suspects.

  In certain dynasties, wealthy women did not leave their homes without male relatives accompanying, nor did they casually invite strangers in. Therefore, women in these professions were among the few granted free access to the inner chambers of wealthy households. 

  However, some men believed that these professional women would reveal private family matters to outsiders. They viewed these women as sources of chaos. The term eventually evolved into its modern usage as a synonym for "meddlesome women who gossip and stir up trouble."

• 例句：
• 別學那些三姑六婆到處說人是非。
  Don't be like those nosy busybodies, going around spreading gossip about others.

• 是非 
• Right and Wrong: It can refer to the correctness or error of a matter.
  
  For example, the term "明辨是非" refers to the ability to discern right from wrong.
• Disputes or Discord: It can refer to verbal arguments or scandals. 
  For example, "搬弄是非" refers to deliberately provoking conflict between parties or making irresponsible comments behind people's backs to cause disputes.

喝咖啡聊是非 Spilling the tea over coffee.

• In this slang, "是非" does not refer to a serious debate about right and wrong. Instead, it is closer to gossip, workplace grudges, or little secrets shared between friends.
  咖啡{coffee} rhymes with 是非(gossip). Therefore, after coffee culture became popular in Taiwan, the phrase "喝咖啡聊是非(Drink coffee, talk gossip)" became a catchy way to describe spending a relaxed time chatting with friends.

• 例句：
• 難得的休假，就是要喝咖啡聊是非。
  On a rare day off like this, the best thing to do is drink coffee and talk gossip.

Thanks for reading! If you want to hear the correct pronunciation and intonation, don't forget to watch the video at the beginning of this post. See you next time!