- According to Merriam Webster: a gathering characterized usually by informal conversation
- But according to Urban Dictionary: An organized social gathering, usually for sexual purposes.
British english vs american one
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3This BrE native speaker has never heard the word in either context.– James KCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 17:11
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Urban dictionary (an unreliable source) has four or five mentions of the "coffee party" and one for the "sex party", and that is downvoted.... draw your own conclusion– James KCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 17:13
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Urban Dictionary is written entirely by users, barely vetted in any way other than by votes, so never take it as a reliable source. It can be very helpful when there's multiple upvoted definitions with a similar meaning, but beyond that it's misleading– gotube ♦Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 17:48
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This BrE native speaker has encountered Kaffeeklatsch, solely in the context of the World Science Fiction Convention.– Colin FineCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 18:26
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This Canadian has heard the word meaning shooting the bull over coffee as a form of German language practice– gotube ♦Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 18:33
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2 Answers
Urban Dictionary is very unreliable. Anyone can add an entry, and this may result in very unofficial or even mischievous 'definitions' appearing.
Some English speakers (probably over a certain age, or who are interested in Germany) will probably have come across the German noun Klatsch which is, roughly, 'gossip', although not necessarily with the malicious or spiteful nuance present in English. It appears in English very often in the German portmanteau Kaffeeklatsch (roughly, an informal coffee meeting). Less familiar to monoglot Anglophones will be e.g. Gesellschaftsklatsch (society gossip).
The word seems to have become adopted in American English after the middle of the 19th century, and is often seen without the 's' it has in the original German (as 'klatch'). There are German-themed restaurants and cafés in the UK and the USA called 'Klatsch'.
I daresay the word is a little old-fashioned, as there aren't that many bourgeois ladies with time on their hands these days:
As her son entered, Frau Metzerott lifted her brown, withered face, and fixed her dark eyes and steel-rimmed spectacles upon him.
“You have quitted early this evening,” she said, in the Platt-Deutsch dialect, which, with the High German of the book on her knee, was her only mode of speech, though she had lived in America for nearly forty years.
He nodded briefly, and then, as if by an afterthought, added, “It is the evening of the Kaffee Klatsch at the Hall, and I will go there for my supper. There is a little concert to-night, and dancing.”
Metzerott, Shoemaker (Katharine Pearson Woods, New York 1899)
Kaffee Klatsch. This furnishes very much the same class of entertainment that is to be found at an afternoon tea, save that coffee is the predominating beverage. The invitation is precisely the same as for teas, simply substituting the words “Kaffee Klatsch.”
Twentieth-century Culture and Deportment (Maud C Cooke, Philadelphia 1899)
The kaffee klatsch is an afternoon affair where ladies meet and chat as they sew and are served a luncheon of German dishes—cold meats, salads, coffee-cake, pickles, coffee, etc. Each guest is given a bit of needlework, button-holes to work, or a small doily to embroider and a prize is given for the best work.
Breakfasts and Teas: Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions (Paul Pierce, Chicago 1907)
A Klatsch of Kindie Rockers was an New York Times article by Jodi Rudoren in 2010 about a 'Kindiefest' (a 'family-oriented' music festival).
answered Oct 15, 2022 at 18:06
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In American English, we write it coffee klatch: tasteofhome.com/article/coffee-klatch And one needn't know German, be bourgeois or do this in the afternoon.– LambieCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 18:49
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@Lambie - so.is it snooty or hi-falutin' to write it the 'German' way? The NYT in 2010, and Maud C Cooke notwithstanding? Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 19:41
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I dunno Michael. I really don't. It is a term I used to hear but not one I am used to seeing in writing. By the way, there is a series on our PBS station here called GUILT. It is simply marvelous. Full of very tricky ups and downs, ins and outs. And very London-y. Just when you think you get it, here comes another twist. All about bent lawyers. :)– LambieCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 19:57
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@Lambie - I think that very few Brits would know what a klat[s]ch was, unless they had lived in Germany, or perhaps read novels set there. Is the Guilt you are watching, the drama sometimes called 'a Scottish Fargo,' with the excellent Mark Bonnar? We have seen seasons 1 & 2 and think it is absolutely great. A third and final season is on the way in 2023, I hear. If you like Scottish stuff, Bonnar has been in Shetland, as the main (police officer) character's friend. Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 20:18
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Aye, indeed it is. It is really so close to the wire, in terms of the plot. One wonders how they can keep it straight. Yeah, I saw Shetland, as well. Great stuff. :)– LambieCommented Oct 15, 2022 at 20:35
First, “klatch” is a borrowing from German meaning “gossip.” According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, it is related to an obsolete use in Middle English of “clap” to mean “talk noisily or chatter.” It has been adopted into American English (possibly from Yiddish) to be a slightly pejorative meaning of “social gathering, usually informal, of adult women.”
Second, the Urban Dictionary is a useful though neither an authoritative nor scholarly source on modern American slang. The sexual connotation is referenced only once even by Urban Dictionary and is attributed to someone with a predilection for sexually-flavored word play. I have never heard it
