What is "table talk"

Table \Ta"ble\, n. [F., fr. L. tabula a board, tablet, a painting. Cf. Tabular, Taffrail, Tavern.]

1. A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab.

   A bagnio paved with fair tables of marble.
   --Sandys.

2. A thin, flat piece of wood, stone, metal, or other material, on which anything is cut, traced, written, or painted; a tablet; pl. a memorandum book. ``The names . . . written on his tables.''
   --Chaucer.

   And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
   --Ex. xxxiv. 1.

   And stand there with your tables to glean The golden sentences.
   --Beau. & Fl.

3. Any smooth, flat surface upon which an inscription, a drawing, or the like, may be produced. ``Painted in a table plain.''
   --Spenser.

   The opposite walls are painted by Rubens, which, with that other of the Infanta taking leave of Don Philip, is a most incomparable table.
   --Evelyn.

   St. Antony has a table that hangs up to him from a poor peasant.
   --Addison.

4. Hence, in a great variety of applications: A condensed statement which may be comprehended by the eye in a single view; a methodical or systematic synopsis; the presentation of many items or particulars in one group; a scheme; a schedule. Specifically:

   1. (Bibliog.) A view of the contents of a work; a statement of the principal topics discussed; an index; a syllabus; a synopsis; as, a table of contents.

   2. (Chem.) A list of substances and their properties; especially, the a list of the elementary substances with their atomic weights, densities, symbols, etc.

   3. (Mach.) Any collection and arrangement in a condensed form of many particulars or values, for ready reference, as of weights, measures, currency, specific gravities, etc.; also, a series of numbers following some law, and expressing particular values corresponding to certain other numbers on which they depend, and by means of which they are taken out for use in computations; as, tables of logarithms, sines, tangents, squares, cubes, etc.; annuity tables; interest tables; astronomical tables, etc.

   4. (Palmistry) The arrangement or disposition of the lines which appear on the inside of the hand.

      Mistress of a fairer table Hath not history for fable.
      --B. Jonson.

5. An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board, or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in eating, writing, or working.

   We may again Give to our tables meat.
   --Shak.

   The nymph the table spread.
   --Pope.

6. Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare; entertainment; as, to set a good table.

7. The company assembled round a table.

   I drink the general joy of the whole table.
   --Shak.

8. (Anat.) One of the two, external and internal, layers of compact bone, separated by diplo["e], in the walls of the cranium.

9. (Arch.) A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is required, so as to make it decorative. See Water table.

10. (Games)

    1. The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon and draughts are played.

    2. One of the divisions of a backgammon board; as, to play into the right-hand table.

    3. pl. The games of backgammon and of draughts. [Obs.]
       --Chaucer.

       This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice, That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice.
       --Shak.

11. (Glass Manuf.) A circular plate of crown glass.

    A circular plate or table of about five feet diameter weighs on an average nine pounds.
    --Ure.

12. (Jewelry) The upper flat surface of a diamond or other precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.

13. (Persp.) A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and perpendicular to the horizon; -- called also perspective plane.

14. (Mach.) The part of a machine tool on which the work rests and is fastened.

    Bench table, Card table, Communion table, Lord's table, etc. See under Bench, Card, etc.

    Raised table (Arch. & Sculp.), a raised or projecting member of a flat surface, large in proportion to the projection, and usually rectangular, -- especially intended to receive an inscription or the like.

    Roller table (Horology), a flat disk on the arbor of the balance of a watch, holding the jewel which rolls in and out of the fork at the end of the lever of the escapement.

    Round table. See Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

    Table anvil, a small anvil to be fastened to a table for use in making slight repairs.

    Table base. (Arch.) Same as Water table.

    Table bed, a bed in the form of a table.

    Table beer, beer for table, or for common use; small beer.

    Table bell, a small bell to be used at table for calling servants.

    Table cover, a cloth for covering a table, especially at other than mealtimes.

    Table diamond, a thin diamond cut with a flat upper surface.

    Table linen, linen tablecloth, napkins, and the like.

    Table money (Mil. or Naut.), an allowance sometimes made to officers over and above their pay, for table expenses.

    Table rent (O. Eng. Law), rent paid to a bishop or religious, reserved or appropriated to his table or housekeeping.
    --Burrill.

    Table shore (Naut.), a low, level shore.

    Table talk, conversation at table, or at meals.

    Table talker, one who talks at table.

    Table tipping, Table turning, certain movements of tables, etc., attributed by some to the agency of departed spirits, and by others to the development of latent vital or spriritual forces, but more commonly ascribed to the muscular force of persons in connection with the objects moved, or to physical force applied otherwise.

    Tables of a girder or Tables of a chord (Engin.), the upper and lower horizontal members.

    To lay on the table, in parliamentary usage, to lay, as a report, motion, etc., on the table of the presiding officer, -- that is, to postpone the consideration of, by a vote; -- also called to table . It is a tactic often used with the intention of postponing consideration of a motion indefinitely, that is, to kill the motion.

    To serve tables (Script.), to provide for the poor, or to distribute provisions for their wants.
    --Acts vi. 2.

    To turn the tables, to change the condition or fortune of contending parties; -- a metaphorical expression taken from the vicissitudes of fortune in gaming.

    Twelve tables (Rom. Antiq.), a celebrated body of Roman laws, framed by decemvirs appointed 450 years before Christ, on the return of deputies or commissioners who had been sent to Greece to examine into foreign laws and institutions. They consisted partly of laws transcribed from the institutions of other nations, partly of such as were altered and accommodated to the manners of the Romans, partly of new provisions, and mainly, perhaps, of laws and usages under their ancient kings.
    --Burrill.

alt. (context idiomatic English) conversation, especially of an informal or somewhat gossipy nature, among a group seated together for a meal or other social activity. n. (context idiomatic English) conversation, especially of an informal or somewhat gossipy nature, among a group seated together for a meal or other social activity.

n. conversation during a meal

Table talk is a literary genre, a species of memoir. A collector (biographer, colleague, friend, etc.) records impromptu comments by some famous person (made generally at the dining table or in small get-togethers), in anticipation of their lasting value. The precedent in classical literature was the symposium, such as the Table Talk of Plutarch, though this was a supposed memoir of an occasion, rather than a person.

"Table talk" may also refer to a similar informal conversation, more deliberately engaged in by the famous person, with the direct intent of publication (somewhat analogous to granting an interview).

Tabletalk, founded 1987, is a weekly local newspaper in the West Coast region of Cape Town, South Africa. It is published once a week by Cape Community Newspapers, a division of Independent Newspapers Cape. The newspaper is distributed free to West Coast suburbs including Milnerton, Table View, Blouberg, West Beach, Parklands, Sunset Beach and Big Bay. circulation is 60,582.

Category:Newspapers published in South Africa Category:Media in Cape Town Category:Publications with year of establishment missing Category:1987 establishments in South Africa Category:Publications established in 1987 Category:Weekly newspapers

In certain card games, table talk is communication by a player with another player with the cards in their hand, usually contrary to the rules of the game. Such communication may be through explicitly naming cards, but it is far more common to try to give hints which the opposing players will think innocent, but which will be understood by the player's partner.

Table talk may refer to:

• Table Talk (newspaper), former weekly magazine published from 26 June 1885 until 1939 in Melbourne, Australia
• Table talk (cards), in certain card games, communication by a player with another player with the cards in their hand, usually contrary to the rules of the game
• Table talk (literature), literary genre, a species of memoir
• Hitler's Table Talk (Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier), series of World War II conversations and monologues delivered by Adolf Hitler, recorded by Heinrich Heim, Henry Picker, and Martin Bormann
• Table Talk (Hazlitt) (1821), collection of essays by the English cultural critic and social commentator William Hazlitt
• Table Talk (Luther) (1566), collection of the sayings of Martin Luther, compiled by Johannes Mathesius and published at Eisleben

Martin Luther's Table Talk is a collection of his sayings around the dinner table at the Black Cloister, Luther's home, but also at other times and locations, such as walks in the garden or notes taken while on journeys. It is based on notes taken by various students of Luther between 1531 and 1544. It was compiled by Johannes Mathesius, J. Aurifaber, V. Dietrich, Ernst Kroker, and several others, and published at Eisleben in 1566.

Mathesius spoke enthusiastically of the privilege of eating with Luther and hearing him converse. Earlier notetakers had written down only the serious remarks of Luther, but Mathesius also wrote down the facetious or even damaging remarks, a sign of the increasing reverence in which Luther was held.

Table Talk was a weekly magazine published from 26 June 1885 until 1939 in Melbourne, Australia. It was established in 1885 by Maurice Brodzky (1847–1919), who obtained financial assistance to start his own publication after resigning from The Herald.

Table Talk was a social magazine for men and women that included articles about politics, finance, literature, arts, and social notes. Its gossip style attracted readers with articles about local notables and famous people from overseas commenting on, among other things, their fashion, relationships, and social engagements. It was most popular during Melbourne's boom in the 1880s.

In 1899, Table Talks format changed to include different font sizes and photographs and in 1926 it absorbed the illustrated magazine, Punch. The last issue was dated 7 September 1939.