Etymology From Middle English bletheren, bloderen, from Old Norse blaðra (“to speak inarticulately, talk nonsense”). Cognate with Scots blether, bladder, bledder (“to blather”), dialectal German bladdern (“to talk nonsense, blather”), Norwegian bladra (“to babble, speak imperfectly”), Icelandic blaðra (“to twaddle”).
1
Derogatory To talk rapidly without making much sense.
“There you go blatherin’,” said Brindle, intending a mild rebuke.1866, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XI, in Felix Holt, the Radical […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 249:
It was at the unveiling of Sir John Gray's statue. Edmund Dwyer Gray was speaking, blathering away, and here was this old fellow, crabbed-looking old chap, looking at him from under his bushy eyebrows.1905 (date written), James Joyce, “Grace”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 210:
1 more example
On and on he blathered, taking refuge in the one thing he felt lent him superiority: words.2001, Richard Flanagan, “The Pot-Bellied Seahorse”, in Gould’s Book of Fish, New York, N.Y.: Grove Atlantic, published 2014, section 5:
2
Derogatory To say (something foolish or nonsensical); to say (something) in a foolish or overly verbose way.
Then, just before the wedding, the old man feels he’s honor bound to tell his future son-in-law the secret of his past; so the damned idiot blathers the whole story of his killing the man and breaking jail!1929, Eugene O’Neill, Dynamo, New York, N.Y.: Liveright, act I, scene i, page 31:
[…] the church attitude has never been that a teacher should be allowed to blather anything that comes into his head without any accountability at all.1974, Robert M[aynard] Pirsig, chapter 18, in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN, part 3, page 214:
That is the worst of being in an Irish regiment, nothing can be done widout ever so much blather;1897, G. A. Henty, chapter 1, in With Moore at Corunna, New York: Scribner, page 16:
Will you cease your blather of mutiny and treason and courts-martial?1922, Rafael Sabatini, chapter 23, in Captain Blood, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 265:
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With years of proofreading under my belt, I knew exactly the blather and bluster favoured by professional politicians.1995, Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, part 5, page 280: