1. [n]  songbirds having a chattering call
2. [n]  birds having a chattering call
3. [n]  an informal conversation
4. [v]  chew the fat; shoot the breeze

1. \Chat\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Chatted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Chatting}.] [From {Chatter}. [root]22.]
   To talk in a light and familiar manner; to converse without
   form or ceremony; to gossip. --Shak.
         To chat a while on their adventures.     --Dryden.
   Syn: To talk; chatter; gossip; converse.
   

2. \Chat\, v. t.
   To talk of. [Obs.]
   

3. \Chat\, n.
   1. Light, familiar talk; conversation; gossip.
            Snuff, or fan, supply each pause of chat, With
            singing, laughing, ogling, and all that. --Pope.
   2. (Zo["o]l.) A bird of the genus {Icteria}, allied to the
      warblers, in America. The best known species are the
      yellow-breasted chat ({I. viridis}), and the long-tailed
      chat ({I. longicauda}). In Europe the name is given to
      several birds of the family {Saxicolid[ae]}, as the
      {stonechat}, and {whinchat}.
   {Bush chat}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Bush}.
   

4. \Chat\, n.
   1. A twig, cone, or little branch. See {Chit}.
   2. pl. (Mining) Small stones with ore.
   {Chat potatoes}, small potatoes, such as are given to swine.
      [Local.]
   

Any system that allows any number of logged-in users to have a typed, real-time, on-line conversation, either by all users logging into the same computer, or more commonly nowadays, via a network.

The medium of chat is descended from talk, but the terms (and the media) have been distinct since at least the early 1990s. talk is prototypically for a small number of people, generally with no provision for channels. In chat systems, however, there are many channels in which any number of people can talk; and users may send private (one-to-one) messages.

Some well known chat systems to date (1998) include IRC, ICQ and Palace.

Chat systems have given rise to a distinctive style combining the immediacy of talking with all the precision (and verbosity) that written language entails. It is difficult to communicate inflection, though conventions have arisen to help with this.

The conventions of chat systems include special items of jargon, generally abbreviations meant to save typing, which are not used orally. E.g., re, BCNU, BBL, BTW, CUL, FWIW, FYA, FYI, IMHO, OTT, TNX, WRT, WTF, WTH, , , BBL, HHOK, NHOH, ROTFL, AFK, b4, TTFN, TTYL, OIC, re.

Much of the chat style is identical to (and probably derived from) Morse code jargon used by ham-radio amateurs since the 1920s, and there is, not surprisingly, some overlap with TDD jargon. Most of the jargan was in use in talk systems. Many of these expressions are also common in Usenet news and electronic mail and some have seeped into popular culture, as with emoticons.

The MUD community uses a mixture of emoticons, a few of the more natural of the old-style talk mode abbreviations, and some of the "social" list above; specifically, MUD respondents report use of BBL, BRB, LOL, b4, BTW, WTF, TTFN, and WTH. The use of "re" or "rehi" is also common; in fact, MUDders are fond of "re-" compounds and will frequently "rehug" or "rebonk" (see bonk/oif) people. In general, though, MUDders express a preference for typing things out in full rather than using abbreviations; this may be due to the relative youth of the MUD cultures, which tend to include many touch typists. Abbreviations specific to MUDs include: FOAD, ppl (people), THX (thanks), UOK? (are you OK?).

Some BIFFisms (notably the variant spelling "d00d") and aspects of ASCIIbonics appear to be passing into wider use among some subgroups of MUDders and are already pandemic on chat systems in general.

See also hakspek.

Suck article "Screaming in a Vacuum".