Badinage
Light, playful, good-humoured talk exchanged for pleasure rather than for points.
Badinage is teasing conversation with no wound in it. Borrowed from French in the eighteenth century (badiner, to joke), it names the register of talk that is witty but affectionate — the mode of friends, flirts, and colleagues who like each other.
It differs from repartee in stakes. Repartee is competitive; badinage is cooperative. It differs from banter mainly in tone: banter can turn abrasive, while badinage keeps its lightness as a rule of the game.
Quotations lifted from badinage almost always disappoint on the page, because the content was never the point — the warmth of the exchange was. Writers preserving it should keep at least two turns of dialogue so the reciprocity survives.
Common mistake: using badinage in a scene that needs conflict. If nothing is at risk in the conversation, extended badinage stalls a narrative no matter how charming each line is.
“"You have delighted us long enough."”
Keep reading the glossary
Quick, witty reply-and-counter-reply — wit measured by speed as much as by content.
A brief, witty remark — sharper than an observation, lighter than an argument.
A flippant, knowing remark that scores a point through cheek rather than through wit's higher polish.
A brief, spirited flight of wit — a remark that sallies out from the flow of talk and returns.