Smalltalk
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of small talk. alt-of, alternative, uncountable
"It’s a bit difficult making smalltalk with a teacher, especially when they have to crane their neck to look up at you."
- 1 An object-oriented, dynamically-typed, reflective programming language.
Example
More examples"Smalltalk rule number one: don't talk about politics."
Etymology
From small talk; according to Alan Kay (one of its creators): The name actually appeared before the first Smalltalk design, which was done in 1971. I had mentioned to someone that the "prose" of then current programming languages was lower than a cocktail party conversation, and that great progress would have been made if we could even get to the level of making "smalltalk". It then occured^([sic]) to me that this word was also a great pun for a language aimed at the world of small children. As for hype: Another motive for "smalltalk" was the practice at the time of naming operating, and other, systems (which hardly did anything) after mighty indo-european gods, such as Thor, Zeus, Odin, etc. I figured that if Smalltalk ever did something neat, then people would be pleasantly surprised.
Related phrases
More for "smalltalk"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.