tattling

«tattling» in Mova's school dictionary: telling an adult about someone's small misbehaviour… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (present participle of tattle: tattle, tattles, tattled, tattling); noun (tattling — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Tattling means telling an adult about someone's small misbehaviour, often just to get them into trouble (mainly American). tree →

2) Tattling can also mean gossiping or chattering. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school lessons on behaviour, «tattling» (to get someone in trouble) is different from «telling» or «reporting» (to keep someone safe). Always tell an adult if someone is hurt, in danger, or being bullied. Phrases: «tattling vs telling», «stop tattling», «tattletale».

examples

• Stop tattling on your little brother. tree →
• Is that tattling or telling? tree →
• Telling an adult that someone is hurt is not tattling. tree →
• She kept tattling about who was talking in class. tree →
• Nobody likes it when you are always tattling. tree →
• My teacher said, «If it's dangerous, it's not tattling.» tree →
• He was called a tattletale for tattling. tree →

note

Mainly American; British children say «telling tales» or «snitching», Australians «dobbing in». Rule: if someone is hurt, unsafe, or being bullied, telling a trusted adult is the right thing, never «tattling».

In the corpora

• Telling keeps someone safe, while tattling only tries to get someone into trouble.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «tattling» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.