英语里面形容侃大山有两种说法。

第一种说法 chew the fat

If you stand while you chew the fat on the phone, you'll burn a few extra calories per minute. 你要是站着在电话里聊天，每分钟都能消耗掉几卡路里的额外热量。

Chew the fat 还可以写成chew the rag，如：The old man would chew the rag for hours with anyone who would join him. 这个老头逮着谁聊谁，一侃就是个把钟头。

第二个说法 shoot the breeze¹

它比前者用得更普遍些，如 Come into the kitchen and we'll shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee。到厨房来，我们边喝咖啡边侃。

Shoot the breeze 还有许多变体，如bat the breeze, fan the breeze, shoot the bull².它们之间是可以互换，意思都一样。

如：The women were shooting the bull about Jim’s latest trouble with the police. 吉姆最近出了点事，被警察盯上了，这些女人们正为此饶着舌。

有些人对别人侃大山看不惯，那么可以说：cut the cackle（别废话了），打断对方。