Flat chat

Apparently the source of the term “flat chat” is an Australian mystery.

There are some dodgy explanations based on a proposed phonetic derivation from “flat strap”, which is what a strap was when you whipped a horse as hard as possible.

Personally I think they should look through the records for horse’s names in the 1800’s. A good fraction of our phrases are derived from ironical use of horses names.

In this case, Flat Chat probably never placed in a race despite some decent pedigree.