Meaning & use
watercooler moment
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A small event or piece of news that everyone is talking about, especially at work the next day.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a watercooler moment' or 'several watercooler moments'.
Patterns
- a real watercooler moment
- become a watercooler moment
- the watercooler moment of the week
The surprise ending of the show was a real watercooler moment.
Her resignation became the watercooler moment of the whole month.
Advertisers pay a lot for a clip that turns into a watercooler moment.
nouncountableinformal
A brief chat between coworkers in a break area, often about something not related to work.
Grammar: Countable and usually singular; it describes one short informal conversation.
Patterns
- have a watercooler moment with someone
- a quick watercooler moment
We had a watercooler moment about the game before the meeting started.
Those little watercooler moments are where a lot of good ideas begin.
Word forms
| plural | watercooler moments |
|---|
Common combinations
- a real watercooler moment
- The goal in the last minute was a real watercooler moment.
- become a watercooler moment
- The interview became a watercooler moment overnight.
- create a watercooler moment
- Good advertising tries to create a watercooler moment.
- the watercooler moment of the week
- That argument was the watercooler moment of the week.
- share a watercooler moment
- We shared a watercooler moment about the new boss.
Synonyms and how they differ
- talking point
- A talking point is any subject people discuss; a watercooler moment is the informal buzz around a single event.
- buzz
- Buzz is the general excited talk; a watercooler moment is the specific happening that causes it.
- viral moment
- A viral moment spreads mainly online, while a watercooler moment spreads through everyday face-to-face chat.
Word family
- water cooler noun
- The machine that dispenses cold drinking water, and the place where such chats happen.
- watercooler chat noun
- Informal talk between coworkers in a break area.
Commonly confused: watercooler moment or water cooler?
watercooler moment vs water cooler
'Water cooler' is the machine itself; 'watercooler moment' is the event or chat that people remember and discuss.
Practice
The shocking result of the election was ______ for weeks afterward.
Choose one answer.
'A watercooler moment' fits because the sentence describes one widely discussed event. 'A water cooler' is the physical machine, so it cannot describe an event, and 'watercooling' is a process, not a countable happening.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “watercooler moment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.