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A fellow on a social site suddenly starts asking me where I am from and what my interests are. I want to tell him that I am not interested in a random conversation and that I'll only answer if he's looking for any certain information.
Now, is there a better phrase or word for random conversation? Something that means, sudden useless or pointless talk. I want a more subtle but powerful word.

Wonder
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    Small talk might be appropriate. – Tushar Raj Mar 08 '18 at 16:01
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    Yammering? Rattletraping? Glossolalia? – DJohnson Mar 08 '18 at 17:05
  • I think this is the perfect question for SE Interpersonal Skills Just say clearly what your aims are e.g. 1) for him to stop pestering you 2) how to tell him politely that you are not interested in developing this exchange beyond a certain point... – Mari-Lou A Mar 09 '18 at 19:41
  • I do not agree with this being a duplicate of the questions given. Though the question A word used to describe meaningless exchange in conversation reads the same, the body of the question, hence what the asker has asked, are quite different. I have definitely not wanted terms like "pleasantries". What I wanted (and received too), are terms like small talk, etc, in a negative sense. – Wonder Mar 12 '18 at 04:08
  • I was looking for a word to tick off a person and the questions suggested just want a word to generalise the exchanges. Its clear in my question. Hence it's different and the questions suggested do not answer what I wanted. – Wonder Mar 12 '18 at 04:18

4 Answers4

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You may use the term chitchat:

friendly conversation about things that are not very important

(M-W)

  • the occasional idle chitchat about nothing important.
user 66974
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Small Talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed.

JeffUK
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“Chatter” would be a good word to use.

Jayne Bernasconi
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    Avoid adding filler to pad an answer to the minimum length. It defeats the purpose of this site. Answers are expected to be lengthy. A good expert answer includes explanation, context, and supporting facts. This is what makes the answer useful – not only to the asker, but to future visitors to the page. Please consider expanding your answer. – MetaEd Mar 09 '18 at 20:22
  • When I posted a one word answer it wasn’t accepted. I understand... thank you for advice. – Jayne Bernasconi Mar 10 '18 at 21:20
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Others options are exchange pleasantries and make conversation.

Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
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