Literal Translation
To talk like broken sticks
Actual Meaning
To talk informally, in an unstructured way, with lots of interruptions
Etymology
In the Middle Ages a tapestry without a regular pattern but with lots of crisscrossed lines was called ‘bâtons rompus’. The expression then made it into military music vocabulary, where it meant drumming twice with each hand, not in a proper drumroll. This idea of jolted irregular rhythm is now used to talk about conversations.