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casual, light, and often trivial conversation, typically about non-essential topics
(prison) inmate-administered corporal punishment
What does "chit-chat" mean in prison slang?
The structure is a simple reduplicative phrase borrowed from its innocent meaning of light conversation, but used ironically in prison to describe something much more severe. It is used to describe inmate administered corporal punishment, often a beating or physical discipline carried out by prisoners against another inmate, usually as enforcement of internal rules or retaliation. People typically use "chit-chat" in prison as coded or darkly humorous slang, where the lightness of the phrase contrasts sharply with the violence it describes.
talk socially without exchanging too much information
