Meaning & use
yacking
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“yacking” is a form of “yack”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitiveinformal
Talking at length in a casual, chatty way, usually about unimportant things.
Grammar: No object; often followed by away or on: they were yacking away.
Patterns
- yacking away
- yacking on about something
- yacking with someone
The two neighbors were yacking over the fence for an hour.
Stop yacking and help me carry these boxes.
He kept yacking on about his holiday plans.
noununcountableinformaldisapproving
Long, idle talk that has little purpose or value.
Grammar: No plural and no an or an: all that yacking gave me a headache.
Patterns
- all the yacking
- yacking about something
I couldn't concentrate with all the yacking behind me.
There was a lot of yacking but very little action.
Word forms
| base form | yack |
|---|---|
| third person singular | yacks |
| past tense | yacked |
| -ing form | yacking |
Common combinations
- yacking away
- The girls sat yacking away in the back row.
- yacking on about
- He was yacking on about football again.
- yacking on the phone
- She spent the evening yacking on the phone.
- stop yacking
- Stop yacking and finish your homework.
- yacking with friends
- I spent the afternoon yacking with friends at the cafe.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chatting
- Chatting is neutral and friendly, while yacking adds a slightly critical sense that the talk is long or empty.
- gabbing
- Gabbing is equally informal but stresses quick, nonstop talk, whereas yacking stresses length and triviality.
- rambling
- Rambling suggests wandering without a clear point, while yacking can be focused but is simply idle.
- jabbering
- Jabbering is faster and often hard to follow, whereas yacking is usually understandable chatter.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: yacking or yakking? yacking or hacking?
yacking vs yakking
Yakking is simply an alternative spelling of yacking, more common in British English.
yacking vs hacking
Hacking means cutting roughly or breaking into computers; it has no link to talking.
Practice
My colleagues were ___ in the corridor instead of attending the meeting.
Choose one answer.
Yacking means chatting idly, which fits the meeting context. Yawning is possible in a corridor but does not suggest skipping a meeting through talk.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “yacking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.