Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a way of cutting off a boring talker by continually interrupting them with small queries.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Kittle pitchering, a jocular method of hobbling or bothering a troublesmome teller of long stories: this is done by contradicting some very immaterial circumstance at the beginning of the narration, the objections to which being settled, others are immediately started to some new particular of like consequence, thus impeding, or rather not suffering him to enter into the main story.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1785].