Etymology of "chatterbox"


Etymology Online dates chatterbox to 1774, understandably as a concatenation of the words chatter and box.


To me, it seems like the connection stems from "a heavy blow of gossip/chatter".


When was this word first used and in what context, more specifically as a noun?



Answer



The OED's first citation is



1774   C. Clive Let. 13 Jan. in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1831) I. 604   But I suppose his father can, for he is a fine chatter-box.



but it's easy to find a couple of antedatings:



1761   C. Morell The History of James Lovegrove, Esq II 95   Hold, hold Chatter-box! To your Buſineſs—
1762   Monthly Review Vol. XXVI 112   a ratting braggadocio, a conceited fop, an eternal chatter-box!



Neither citation sheds any light on the etymology. But I note that prattle-box is obviously formed on the same lines as chatter-box and appears somewhat earlier:



1671   J. Glanvill Disc. H. Stubbe 2   Gross Ignoramusses, Illiterate Fools, Prattle-boxes, Catch-Dotterels,..Tories, Cheats, and poor Devils.



And prattle-basket is even earlier:



1602   N. Breton Mothers Blessing sig. E1   But if she be ilfauour'd, blind, and old, A prattle basket, or an idle slut.



I think these earlier forms provide support for chatter-box being originally understood as "a container full of idle talk".


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