聊天儿

The Chinese word 聊天儿 (liáotiān'r) for "chatting" is composed of two characters: 聊 (liáo) and 天 (tiān). The character 聊 originally meant "to comfort" or "to relieve boredom", and it was often used in the context of chatting or having a conversation. The character 天 originally meant "sky" or "heaven", but it was also used to refer to the concept of "time". When these two characters are combined, they create the word 聊天儿, which literally means "to comfort the time" or "to relieve boredom by talking". Over time, the meaning of 聊天儿 has evolved to simply mean "chatting" or "having a conversation".