Meanings
verbtalk shop (third-person singular simple present talks shop, present participle talking shop, simple past and past participle talked shop)
present singular third person talks shop · participle present talking shop · participle past talked shop · past talked shop
- informalintransitiveTo discuss one's work or (sometimes, by extension) hobby; especially, to do so in a way that only insiders would understand, is tedious or boring to the listener, or both.
Last thing you wanna do is talk shop at a party, so no artsy-fartsy chitchat. If you need to leave, tap me on my shoulder, and we're outie. Unless I have a honey on the line, in which case, hoof it, capiche?
2019, Mike Oppenhuizen, “Y.G.A.G.G.” (17:13 from the start), in Wendey Stanzler, director, Atypical, season 3, episode 4, spoken by Zahid (Nik Dodani), via Netflix
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 三句不離本行 /三句不离本行
- 三句不離本行 /三句不离本行 (sān jù bù lí běn háng)discuss one's work
Czech bavit se o práci
- bavit se o prácidiscuss one's work
Dutch over werk praten
- over werk pratendiscuss one's work
Finnish puhua työstään
- puhua työstäändiscuss one's work
French parler boutique
- parler boutiquediscuss one's work
German über die Arbeit reden, fachsimpeln
- über die Arbeit redendiscuss one's work
- fachsimpelndiscuss one's work
Hungarian szakmázik, szakmai dolgokról beszélget
- szakmázikdiscuss one's work
- szakmai dolgokról beszélgetdiscuss one's work
- munkahelyi ügyekről beszélgetdiscuss one's work
Italian parlare di lavoro
- parlare di lavorodiscuss one's work
Polish rozmawiać o pracy
- rozmawiać o pracydiscuss one's work
Portuguese falar de negócios/negócio
- falar de negócios/negóciodiscuss one's work
Russian говори́ть о рабо́те
- говори́ть о рабо́те (govorítʹ o rabóte)discuss one's work
Spanish hablar de negocios
- hablar de negociosdiscuss one's work
Swedish prata jobb
- prata jobbdiscuss one's work
Vietnamese nói chuyện làm ăn
- nói chuyện làm ăndiscuss one's work
Cite this entry
APA
talk shop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20shop
MLA
“talk shop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20shop. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “talk shop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/talk%20shop.
Source: talk shop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.