"small-talk"
Cómo se dise en español "small-talk" y "mutton dressed-up as lamb" !
Saludos,
3 Answers
You make 'small talk' at a party for example with people you don't know...i.e. trivial conversation/chit-chat! (no idea why you 'make' it!)
'Mutton dressed as lamb' is an expression used to describe middle-aged women who are dressed like teenagers. It's not very flattering!!
in response to Torrentes75 request, a Spanish sentence with "small-talk".
The following example appears on a [translation of Jane Austin's "Persuasion" from Google Books.][1]
"Nada demasiado importante pudo escuchar, sin embargo. Era una plática ligera, como la que pueden sostener jóvenes cualesquiera en un paseo más o menos íntimo."
As for the explanation furnished in regard to the "mutton" expression, I would say something like "unas viejas dándoselas de pavas": That however, is saying it outright. There might be en equivalent folk expression, but I can't think of it.
I can think of something similar, but it is a somewhat uglier expression used to mean that classless people remain classless regardless of how much they work on their appearances: "Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda"
[1]: http://books.google.com/books?id=8f8AkgCTTg0C&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=plática+ligera&source=bl&ots=JhDJojdo7T&sig=6INj7EI6p7httndXnWI8rhX4I20&hl=en&ei=XcGoS57yBsOWtgeUupjyBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=plática ligera&f=false
Small talk I'd translate as "conversación / plática ligera". I can't think of an equivalent saying for "mutton dressed-up as a lamb", though. Not even sure what the expression means. 
