What's the difference between tattle and telltale?

Tattle


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat.
  • (v. i.) To tell tales; to communicate secrets; to be a talebearer; as, a tattling girl.
  • (n.) Idle talk or chat; trifling talk; prate.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Others will point out that this is a case of pot calling kettle black as Wolff is himself a famous peddler of tittle-tattle – the aggregator website that he cofounded, Newser, even has a section called "Gossip".
  • (2) Barry Glendenning juggles a ball and transfer tittle-tattle as he prepares to sit in the Big D-Day Chair.
  • (3) Whenever prominent South African figures misbehave, Xhosa title-tattle centres on whether they have been ­circumcised.
  • (4) Salmond's spokesman said last night that the leaks were "diplomatic tittle tattle", but "vindicated" the Scottish government's position.
  • (5) We all enjoy a bit of gossip, it's hard to look away from kiss'n'tells or tittle-tattle whether it's about a doped-up soap star or Murdoch himself.
  • (6) "I'm not too disappointed that tittle tattle has stopped," he says.
  • (7) He said there was "too much trivialisation" and "tittle tattle" in the UK press.
  • (8) If Fleet Street had dutifully awaited the official release of the data, as the likes of Sir Stuart once said it should, the big story would have been the blush-worthy tittle-tattle of grocery claims instead of the incomparably more serious issue of the dodgy property deals.
  • (9) Cameron called it "tittle-tattle and rumour – utterly pathetic!".
  • (10) I think it would have been appropriate and right and respectful of people’s feelings to have done so.” There was further confusion after a Twitter account claiming to be the official Jeremy Corbyn campaign, with a verified blue tick, dismissed the row as “tittle-tattle”.
  • (11) His Eye sets its sights at genuine corruption or hypocrisy or mendacity, rather than offering tittle-tattle.
  • (12) In the public perception this ephemeral tittle-tattle replaced her timeless talent.
  • (13) On the other hand, there is also no doubt that there is no genuine public-interest justification for publishing tittle-tattle.
  • (14) White assiduously avoided clearing up the tittle-tattle, until eventually birth, marriage and divorce certificates were slightly churlishly unearthed by journalists.
  • (15) And while I didn't write tittle-tattle dreaming of Pulitzers, I never knew I'd fear a Booker Prize nomination instead.
  • (16) I’m not interested in all the tittle‑tattle ... we all have to remember that he is a truly gifted player.” United were eighth when Cantona strode in and were finding goals hard to come by.
  • (17) The sum total, he said, was "gossip, conjecture, unpleasant tittle-tattle and dollops of nostalgia".
  • (18) Leading the charge of this year’s batch of tittle-tattle is that the 3.5mm headphone jack is being ditched for the iPhone 7 .
  • (19) Regurgitating tittle-tattle is the Mill's forte, confused readers, not arithmetic.
  • (20) 7.03pm BST Some tittle for your tattle Probably bollix, but then so's most of the day's "news".

Telltale


Definition:

  • (a.) Telling tales; babbling.
  • (n.) One who officiously communicates information of the private concerns of others; one who tells that which prudence should suppress.
  • (n.) A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected with the bellows of an organ, that gives notice, by its position, when the wind is exhausted.
  • (n.) A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.
  • (n.) A compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course.
  • (n.) A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees, as factory hands, watchmen, drivers, check takers, and the like, by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted.
  • (n.) The tattler. See Tattler.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) NPR reported that investigators have not found telltale signs associated with Islamist radicalization , such as a change in mosques or abrupt shifts in behavior or family associations.
  • (2) The goal of aesthetic surgery is to avoid the telltale signs of surgery and to help the patient attain a youthful and energetic appearance for his or her age bracket.
  • (3) But a staff member wearing the telltale red ID pass but dressed in a shirt and tie rather than high-vis waistcoat – he would only say his role was "management" – took a different view.
  • (4) Water bottles, sweet wrappers, sanitary towels and footprints are telltale signs, as is a bivouac made from bushes to shelter the migrants from the heat of the day so they can continue their journey at night.
  • (5) When a repair technician arrived he couldn’t believe his eyes: knee-deep at the bottom of the shaft were hundreds of envelopes, the vessels for bribes to doctors who then dispensed with the telltale fakelakia .
  • (6) The method, established by Henry Ford Behavioral Health Services in 2001, is based on a clear principle: prevention, or the simple idea that suicide can be prevented if telltale signs leading up to it – including depression – are screened for in a mass, cohesive and coordinated fashion.
  • (7) Surgery for gynecomastia is primarily aimed at the complete removal of the breast tissue and the reconstruction of the normal breast and chest contour while leaving minimal telltale signs of the surgery.
  • (8) In a telltale sign that May was marking out territory for a possible future leadership bid, she defined what she called "the three pillars of Conservatism" – security, freedom and opportunity.
  • (9) A group of songbirds may have avoided a devastating storm by fleeing their US breeding grounds after detecting telltale infrasound waves.
  • (10) Gale Crater was chosen because its landscape shows the telltale signs of an ancient ocean.
  • (11) This is a town where the men have the telltale signs of the seriously rich.
  • (12) To find ways of sharing their enthusiasm and gifts with our communities, above all in works of mercy and concern for others?” Mother of disabled child kissed by pope applauds Francis's 'love for everybody' Read more At the barricades, the ebullient crowd mingled with police, national guardsmen in fatigues, and wary agents from the secret service and FBI, in suits save for telltale holsters, badges and microphones.
  • (13) The telltale signs could be as innocuous-seeming as “a bit of a headache or just feeling a little bit unwell”.
  • (14) The first telltale sign is when you start to feel first disconcerted and then just faintly exhausted by arguments about the correct response to bog-standard but still irritating incidents of everyday sexism.
  • (15) GAMES The Walking Dead: Season Two (Free + IAP) I can't speak highly enough of Telltale Games' work with The Walking Dead on mobile: it's made gripping, atmospheric classics.
  • (16) The subjective restlessness of akathisia is usually accompanied by telltale foot movements: rocking from foot to foot while standing or walking on the spot.
  • (17) She points to evidence that such a switch may be near: The top of any market always has telltale signs.
  • (18) Lesions of the aorta also affect the surrounding structures, providing telltale signs of the overall situation.
  • (19) The living room of Vicky Holliday and her partner Keith Newell’s home, in a quiet cul-de-sac in High Wycombe, has all the telltale signs of new parenthood: multicoloured baby mat, cuddly toys, photos of the proud parents with their newborn baby.
  • (20) Schoolchildren could get involved to record how telltale words such as bath are pronounced in their area, Ranft says.