banter

Research shows small talk can boost mental health, though there’s a fine line between friendly banter and oversharing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Taking place during the summer of 1985, Benji and his teenage friends banter about culture and get their first taste of freedom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Being able to banter about blade height and the best time to aerate also gains you access to an office subculture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

He told the inquest the comment was a "tongue-in-cheek", which was "meant to be taken as a bit of banter", and that they had then made a joke about his weight.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

“I was just checking,” I say, pleased that we’re back to our usual Scrabble banter.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Bergstrom, 41, spends most nights on a live-shopping app called Whatnot, where hosts like him auction collectibles in real time to an audience that simultaneously banters and bids on his goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

He is a regular presence on social media, where he banters with the public.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2023

But he makes frequent appearances on Israeli TV and radio, displaying a cheerful demeanor, quit wit and knack for deflecting criticism as he banters with his hosts.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2022

Its framing device is a tell-all concert, in which the “internationally ignored” performer banters with the audience about her fractured childhood and various lost loves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2020

All our reformations are banters, and will be so till our magistrates and gentry reform themselves, by way of example; then, and not till then, they may be expected to punish others without blushing.

From The True-Born Englishman A Satire by Daniel Defoe

During the launch of a curriculum with Sesame Workshop, Chan bantered with Elmo in a promotional video.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

When I met an Australian guy named Aaron out at a gay bar one night, it felt easy and light; we bantered well, and he had big dimples, and I was myself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

Harvick noted as much as he signed off from the Clash, where he and former teammate Bowyer bantered throughout Harvick’s second trial by fire.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024

Welsh actors Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Jonathan Pryce bantered about who was the more Welsh on the set of their latest film, its director has said.

From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2024

As they waited for instructions to march, they practiced their French and bantered with the Irish Seventh Regiment.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Nostalgic fans witnessed the brothers hugging and bantering on stage during their gigs, marking a new direction for the rock stars who had spent more than a decade publicly insulting one another.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

He was in his 80s then, but still vibrant—rarely seated, moving easily around the room and bantering with staff as they passed in and out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

But it didn’t stop him from talking to a reporter or bantering with his friends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2024

He watched as his team batted at the start of what would be a roughly five-hour match, bantering about cricket and careers with the players, who huddled on bleachers under a small square of shade.

From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2023

Soon he is taking Marie-Laure along on various errands again, teasing her about the mountains of sugar she spoons into her coffee or bantering with warders about the superiority of his brand of cigarettes.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr