Also:
shoot the bull,
throw the bull,
shoot the shit
Meaning of Idiom ‘Shoot the Breeze’
To shoot the breeze means to talk or chat idly, casually, and without purpose about unimportant and ordinary things, just for the sake of spending time together.
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Usage Notes
Unlike shooting the breeze, the other variations, shoot the bull, throw the bull, and shoot the shit, can have a connotation of empty talk, tall tales, or lies. For instance, bull, in shoot the bull, is short for bullshit.
Examples Of Use
“The old men in town always hung out at the park, just playing chess and shooting the breeze.”
“It was great seeing Teddy again. We sat around for hours shooting the breeze, just like the old days.”
“I enjoy being a bartender. I shoot the breeze with my customers and meet new people all the time.”
Origin
The word shoot, in this idiom, is used in a similar way to ‘shooting the rapids’ meaning to be sort of carried along by the flow of a conversation with little direction or purpose.
