b) to go on about something
Well done ! That’s the right answer.
To rabbit on means to talk at great length, about trivial things. If you describe someone as rabbiting on, you do not like the way they keep talking about something that is not very interesting.
The phrase is British and rather informal. It comes from mid 20th-century Cockney rhyming slang, in which rabbit and pork means ‘talk’.
French translation
blablater, parler à n’en plus finir
How NOT to translate : *lapiner
...................................................
Examples in context
‘Trump on tour
IT would appear that Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy consists of lobbing a grenade into conference rooms before entering, and then counting the survivors.
(…)
“… He [Trump] is wrong to rabbit on about spending 2pc or 4pc on weapons. This helps no one but the defence industries — spending should meet plausible threat, not some vague budget target. But no more helpful is Europe’s belligerent posturing towards Moscow, such as Britain’s reaction to the mysterious poisonings in Wiltshire. Entrenching Putin behind a siege economy is not a defence policy.
Dawn, 9 July 2019
...................................................
Everyday usage
What are you rabbiting on about ?
I’m so tired of him rabbiting on about it.
Click below to listen to Rashida using the phrase.
Missed last week’s phrase or want to sign up ? Catch up here
