quiet conversation; talking quietly
Refers to a calm, low-voiced chat, often in a relaxed setting. Not necessarily secretive.
I enjoyed a quiet conversation with a friend at the café.
Light, casual talk without serious purpose; often used in the set phrase 閑話休題 (well, let's get back to the topic).
We exchanged a little small talk before the meeting.
Well, enough small talk; let's get to the main topic.
世間話 is 'small talk about everyday matters', often more casual and common than 閑話.
getting back to the subject; to return to the main topic; so much for digressions
Standard kanji spelling; 閑 suggests quiet or leisure.
Variant spelling using 間 (interval, between); less common than 閑話.
Compound of 閑 (quiet, leisure) and 話 (talk, story). The variant 間話 uses 間 (interval, between) with a similar meaning. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.