blab, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

blab n.

[blab and its v. forms blab and, apparently, blabber are the first sl. terms relating to speech and can be found as such in the 16C. Their history, however, is somewhat older. There is even, according to the OED, a question whether what appears to be an obvious link actually exists. Blab, then spelt blabbe and meaning a ‘chatterer’, occurs in Chaucer c.1374; blab, meaning simply ‘chatter’ or ‘loose talk’, can be found in The Tale of Beryn (c.1400), but then promptly vanishes until the 16C, when it is augmented by a v. form, blab, to chatter (1535). This, in turn, creates a n., blabber, a chatterer. However, the v. blabber predates all these; it occurs in Piers Ploughman (1362) and, with its n. blabberer, is common in the works of John Wyclif (1330–84). Thus, however tempting it may seem, one cannot simply assume that blab is a 14C abbr. of blabber. Instead, the OED suggests, it is related to the noun labbe, a revealer of secrets, in Chaucer, and the verb labbe in Piers Ploughman and to labbyng, open-mouthed. It can also be linked to the Old Dutch labben, to chatter. Thus blab/blabbe might be a mixture of labbe and blabber; but might also be simply onomat.]

1. a tell-tale.

1560		Nice Wanton Aiiii: That knauve your brother wyl be a blabbe styll.
1573		T. Tusser Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie (1878) 190: Backbiting talk that flattering blabs know wily how to blenge.
1579		S. Gosson School of Abuse (1868) 24: I shoulde tel tales out of the Schoole, and bee [...] hyssed at for a blab.
1598		Florio Worlde of Wordes n.p.: Gracchia, [...] Also a blab, a prater, a tatler.
1616		W. Haughton English-Men For My Money III ii: And, sirrah Frisco, see you prove no blab.
1637		N. Whiting Albino and Bellama 138: Peace huswife, sayes mine host, you tatling blab.
1643		Horn & Robotham (trans.) Gate of Languages Unlocked Ch. 86 838: A blab (a long-tongue) bewrayeth (discloseth) and blabbeth out secrets.
1668		W. Davenant Man’s the Master III i: I can keep secrets [...] I never tell for fear men should take me for a blab.
1670		J. Ray Proverbs 63: He that is a blab, is a scab.
1695		Congreve Love for Love IV i: I am no blab, sir.
1709		M. Pix Adventures in Madrid I i: She cries Men of your Country are such Blabs, and one step towards Discovery for ever loses her.
1716		J. Addison Drummer V i: You need not be a blab.
1725		Bailey (trans.) Erasmus’ Colloquies 479: Have you got a Blab of a Servant then?
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1748		Spy on Mother Midnight I 13: They begin not to be sham’d of an Intrigue, and to be as great Blabs as any Lay-Rake of them all.
1772		W. O’Brien Cross Purposes in Coll. Farces & Entertainment VI (1788) 58: Hush, you confounded blab.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
c.1792		R. Porson ‘Imitation of Horace’ in Whibley In Cap and Gown (1889) 67: You know I never was a blab.
1809		B.H. Malkin (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas (1822) I 133: I should never had known, but for that blab Inésilla.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1829		Vidocq Memoirs (trans. McGinn) III 110: Why should I tell you? you women are all blabs.
1837		‘A Merry Christmas’ Bentley’s Misc. Mar. 266: I see you have got hold of some of our family secrets; but Seaforth was always a blab.
1849		Sam Sly 20 Jan. 3/2: He advises Mr. T—s W—g [...] to be very cautious in the selection of his bosom friends, for the one he has chosen is a blab.
1935		M. Fulcher ‘Believe Me’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 20 Apr. 5/1: Your New York correspondent, Mrs Fulcher’s blab boy, Malcolm.

2. talk.

[1593		G. Harvey Pierce’s Supererogation 145: It is a blabb: but not euery mans blabb, that casteth a sheepes-eye out of a Calues-head; but a blabb with iudgement; but a blabb, that can make excrements blush.].
1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 11 Oct. n.p.: I advise you to keep your blab a little more to yourself.
1873		W.H. Thomes Bushrangers 298: Men of the bush had but little respect for each other, and were not fond of what they called ‘blab’.
1953		W. Eyster Far from the Customary Skies 32: Shut the blab.
1996		T. Wolff ‘Casualty’ in The Night in Question 15: Sergeant Holmes [...] said, ‘Any you boys gots a screwdriver?’ and Ryan said instantly, ‘What size?’ This was regulation blab, but it worked.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

In derivatives

blabfest (n.) [-fest sfx]

(US) a gathering where those involved devote themselves to talking, esp. unashamed gossip.

1963		D.A. Kinsley Death Rides a Camel 363: The Prime Minister, as usual, was a one-man blabfest all during dinner.
1995		R. Girardi Madeleine’s Ghost 235: I go for ten years without a word and you show up and it’s one long blabfest.
2005		J.A. Klein Global Deception 68: It’s far more fun to hang out with Mick and Bill and Hill [...] at some UN-sponsored blabfest.

In compounds

blab sheet (n.) [sheet n. (1)]

(orig. US black) a newspaper.

2000

(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad 13: Blab sheet Newspaper.

In phrases

blabs in labs (n.)

(US campus) a course in linguistics, the ‘labs’ are language laboratories.

1980		L. Birnbach Official Preppie Hbk.
1982		W. Safire What’s The Good Word? 300: Students of linguistics engage in ‘Blabs in Labs’.
2002		John Burkardt ‘Lucky Duck’ Wordplay 🌐 blabs in labs (a college linguistics course).