Reduplication of tattle.

tittle-tattle

1. (uncountable) Petty, idle gossip.
   • 1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter XI.”, in Miscellanies, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], →OCLC ↗, page 114 ↗:

     Every idle Tittle-tattle that went about, Jack was always ſuſpected for the author of it: […]

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 16, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC ↗:

     She has trouble enough on her hands, with the affairs of that silly young scapegrace, without being pestered by the tittle-tattle of this place. It is all an invention of that fool, Fribsby.

2. An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.

• French: cancans

tittle-tattle (tittle-tattles, present participle tittle-tattling; simple past and past participle tittle-tattled)

1. To engage in gossip.
   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     ‘I hope you two have been mewed in with that old pussy long enough. While you’ve been tittle-tattling I’ve been doing, — listen to what this bobby’s got to say.’

2. To spread gossip.