Another Word Of The Day

badinage \bad-n-AHZH\, noun:

1. Light, playful talk; banter.

Ken was determined to put the cares of the world behind him and do what he loved best -- having a few celebrity friends round and enjoying an evening of anecdote and badinage over a bottle or two of vintage bubbly and some tasty cheese straws.
--Bel Littlejohn, "My moustache man," The Guardian, March 24, 2000

The badinage was inconsequential, reduced to who knew whom and wasn't the weather glorious in St. Tropez, or the Bahamas, Hawaii, or Hong Kong?
--Robert Ludlum, The Matarese Countdown

Badinage comes from Frenc, from badiner, "to trifle, to joke," badin, "playful, jocular."