Abraham Lincoln

Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap - let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice.

American President

Heywood Broun

Every now and then, we hear parents commenting on the fearful things which motion pictures may do to the minds of children. They seem to think that a little child is full of sweetness and of light. We had the same notion until we had a chance to listen intently to the prattle of a three-year-old.

American Journalist

Richard Quest

Any idiot can throw together a program or report and shove it out, but to get the balance and to get the skill set, that is what they pay us for. They don't pay us to prattle on the television; anybody can do that.

English Journalist

John Adams

As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very little of my love and admiration. I long for rural and domestic scene, for the warbling of birds and the prattling of my children.

W. Somerset Maugham

Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.

British Playwright

Michael J. Knowles

Criminal justice reformers prattle on about 'over-incarceration' in America when in fact our nation suffers from an under-incarceration problem.

American Author

Rachel Sklar

What bothered me most about chick lit, frankly, was how the term was used to dismiss a huge chunk of the bookstore as silly, girlish prattle.

Canadian Lawyer

Prattle, when used as a verb, is informal and implies trivial content of speech.

Informality

Use 'prattle on' to describe someone speaking at length without substance, often annoyingly.

Conversational Context

Prattling can be a matter of opinion, what seems silly to one could be significant to another.

Subjectivity

As a noun, 'prattle' refers to speech that lacks depth and is used mostly in casual conversation.

Calling someone's speech 'prattle' suggests it's not worthy of attention.

Negative Impression

What one person considers prattle might be engaging to someone else.

 As her guests prattle on and on about nothing, the reader begins to agree– Emma is the only exciting character in this quiet neighborhood. Yet despite her swelling ego, Emma may not be as in control as she thinks – in life or love.

The wicked wit of Jane...

 graduate student graduate school seminar with a great historian and the best teacher I ever had who in the first session allowed us first-year students to prattle on and on and on about how the pass holes of a mirror to our own

Africa’s rhyming history...

 has hung like the sword of Damocles over my head. I mean, who can remember what they said a year ago? Scared and mortified, I listen, listen as I prattle on about the flotsam and jetsam of the day;