side conversations
Tangent talk nearby
Side conversations are discussions happening alongside or separate from a main conversation.
In meetings, side conversations occur when participants talk quietly among themselves rather than following the primary discussion: Can we table the side conversations, please?
The term also applies to private exchanges that branch off from group chats or email threads.
- whispersSpeaks very quietly
- murmursSpeaks in hushed tones
- sotto voceIn an undertone
- asidesRemarks to audience only
- gossipInformal talk spreading rumors
water cooler talk · huddle · chatter · sidebar · behind closed doors · off the record · distraction · passing notes · back-channel · undertone · buzzing · crosstalk · tangent · off-topic · talking out of turn · secretive · giggling · scheming
- meeting problemsno decisions, interrupting, rambling, off-topic, tangents
- casual communicationsmall talk, chit-chat, chitchat, banter, texting
- back channelsback doors, intermediaries, go-betweens, middlemen, proxies
side conversationsopen forum
Unrestricted public discussion
group discussion · general assembly · town hall · direct address · roundtable
conversation, sides, siding, sideway, sideways, sidelong, beside, besides, alongside