talk shop

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talk shop (third-person singular simple present talks shop, present participle talking shop, simple past and past participle talked shop)

1. (intransitive, informal) To discuss one's work or (sometimes, by extension) hobby; especially, to do so in a way that only insiders would understand, is tedious or boring to the listener, or both.

• This is an idiomatic instance of a general construction consisting of talk with the topic area as object of the verb. One can talk baseball, talk philosophy, or talk trash.

• shop talk (noun)

talk shop (plural talk shops)

1. A talking shop.

• shop talk, shoptalk