Literary notes about confabulate (AI summary)
Writers often use "confabulate" to evoke a sense of intimate, lively conversation or even fanciful discourse. In some texts, the word is playfully attributed to birds, suggesting that even nature partakes in witty talk [1][2], while elsewhere it underscores the familiarity of a private exchange between characters [3][4]. The term may also hint at a conspiratorial or gossipy dialogue, imbuing the communication with a blend of charm and subtle intrigue [5][6].
- I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau If birds confabulate or no.
— from Familiar QuotationsA Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced toTheir Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature - “I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau, If birds confabulate or no:— ’Tis certain they were always able, To hold discourse, at least in fable.”
— from The Every-day Book and Table Book. v. 3 (of 3) Everlasting Calerdar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Month, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac by William Hone - In this manner, said my master, did the parson and I confabulate; and I set him down at his lodgings in the village.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - Now let us confabulate togedder like sensible people.
— from The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy by Samuel Eberly Gross - We halted for a few minutes in the midst of the kennel, to confabulate with our new friends, and a very amicable and intellectual conversation ensued.
— from Pelham — Volume 04 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron - She does not break the thread of a conversation by irrelevant questions or confabulate in an undertone with the servants.
— from Worldly Ways & Byways by Eliot Gregory
