To talk shop is a phrase. It denotes that people are talking shop; it means that they are talking about their work, their status, their achievements, their journey etc, etc and this is boring for other people. The term ‘Talking shop’ is usually used in a sneering or derogatory sense; apparently fruitless discussion forums are often dismissed as talking shops.

You can usually see people talk shopping on train journeys, in colonies and societies in evenings, in gardens, in coffee shops etc. In short talk shopping is equal to gossiping.

In many social settings especially business organizations, it is preferable to avoid talk shop. This is because many workers enjoy an interval from work matters while enjoying their free time. Also, group members exclude others making those feel unwanted. These talks are unending; a lot of correct and wrong information passes on. Shrewd people start a gossip which is synonymous to talk shop to serve their one interest at the expense of others. Talk shops can be used to capitalise on others’ hardship and to use these against them during a time of vulnerability in order to advance few people’s self interest especially in organizations.

The term has been applied to many political forums; including super national bodies.  A supranational organization is an international group or union in which the power and influence of member states transcend national boundaries or interests to share in decision making and vote on issues concerning the collective body. The European Union, World Trade Organization, the League of Nations, the United Nations, the European Parliament, European Political Cooperation the ASEAN etc. are examples of such organizations.  The U.N is known for lot of speeches and meetings especially during the annual sessions of the General Assembly. But as Churchill put it, jaw-jaw is better than war-war. It’s one place where all countries in the world can get together, bore each other to death with no outcome most of the times. It is an apt example of Talk Shop. 

A talking shop or debating society is an organisation or place where discussion is the main activity, with no decisions or actions necessarily arising from the discussion. Talking shops may be considered unproductive, bureaucratic or self-serving and so may lack respect and power. The term is explained even as “debating society.”

Another example is our Parliamentary Sessions of Parliament in both the opposition and ruling alliance are nothing but Talk Shops. MPs gear up for harsh debates, walkouts and adjournment, and the media begins to highlight the unruliness of India’s political elite in which several important questions about parliamentary functioning come to mind. MPs don’t participate in parliamentary proceedings on a regular basis. But, they actively obstruct parliamentary work. Has the inefficiency of parliament led to the rise of alternative forums of deliberation?

People talk shop on social media. They go on posting and reposting their picnics, foreign tours, wedding anniversaries, small achievements, and birthday celebration of family members, birthdays of their pets, alumni meets and what not. This is done for social validations. Some people share their pictures, videos, or stories so often that it becomes boring to even click on their posts.

To conclude the post on Talk Shop, the phrase is used to describe all talk but no action. When you are forced to be a listener of a talk shop, just listen without adding to the discussion. There is a famous proverb “an empty wagon makes the most noise”.  Talk shoppers are procrastinators. They waste theirs and other’s time. Beware of them.