Robin Williams was a famous American comedian who was famous for his improvisation, and there are tons of articles online about him with other comedians or at live events. The online version of MW has this additional definition of riff that may be useful to you: In music, a “riff” is a repeated musical phrase, although in many styles of music that involve improvisation (jazz, for example), it is common to vary the phrase rather than remain rigid. There is also the expression “riffing around a scale”, which means to play improvised but within the limits of a series of notes, so most often it sounds like a true phrase or pattern. For example, a comedian may make an observation and then write several “jokes” on the subject. One could then say that he was “surfing on an idea”. Since these jokes can be written before they are played, you wouldn`t necessarily say he improvised. Beyond music, “riffing” means taking an idea and then creating new material around it. The idea can be original, an idea borrowed from another place or an idea “found” as an observation. This does not necessarily involve improvisation, although it may be. The term “riffing” comes from music, but has a slightly different meaning in other contexts. In music, a “riff” is a repeated phrase, while “riffing” is supposed to improvise, but within fixed parameters.
This was probably said in response to “it seems threatening.” I need more context, but I suspect the “riffing” comment was said sarcastically. So the conversation might be more likely: in your particular chess example, “riffing” means the use of a known or documented strategy. There are many chess strategies, but they cannot be played in a stereotypical way, as they must be adjusted to take into account the movements of other players. It is presented as an idea that contradicts “brilliance”, which would mean a truly original and ingenious gesture. The implication is that if the strategy is known, rather than designed on the site, it is a “riffing” or the use of a variant of an existing strategy rather than creating something new. In this particular context, I must agree that there is a certain “improvisation” because the strategy on the field is adjusted to take into account the movements of the other player. The couple is torn apart over the pink slime, the New World Order and even the Christmas™ War. The father of one of Riff`s oldest residents witnessed the huge crowd of gypsies attending the funeral. Another example outside of music would be the phrase: These are the poorest models – the neighborhood riff-raff – who go from a few pennies to a few francs for a session. Riffing or riffing comes from music, in particular: the floating reef raff was dead, leaving behind a solid and intelligent population of sixteen hundred people.
My first thought was, “This is a typo. But since I can`t imagine what a typo could be used for, I`ll opt for the music option: music.stackexchange.com/questions/6496/what-is-the-difference-between-a-riff-and-a-lick The first player makes his brilliant move and says, “It looks threatening. “It wasn`t a brilliant strategic game that improvised. Riff (verb) 1: an ostinato phrase (as in jazz) that generally supports solo improvisation I think You`re on the right track with your first suggestion: “play, deliver or use a [musical] riff.” Remember Woody Allen Reef on “what horrible food and such small portions” at a Catskill resort? This is not a particularly common phrase and I would expect many English speakers to come across this usage. 2) Respond with good humor and a comic interpretation of a “disturbing” musical riff. something like the music of “Jaws”. or this theme from LvB`s 5th symphony (“duh-duh-du – DUH!”, which is supposed to symbolize “V for victory” in Morse code.) The punishment imposed on the reef pirates was quickly forgotten, and they continued their ravages on British trade. A riff is a short section of music, especially in jazz. When you learn to play the saxophone for the first time, you can play the same riff over and over again. He was a classically trained pianist who also created some of the most distinctive guitar riffs in rock history. The result was this 160-word riff, the kind of thing that will end up in the history books to mark why the United States was in its current position. He kept singing, but now we`ve “played” the guitar riff with our vocals.
Not that Shakespeare`s riff is limited to novels. When one jazz musician improvises in a band, the others usually play riffs in the background. Sometimes a riff introduces the beginning of a song or its chorus. Playing this section is also riff, and you can also talk about improvised language with riff: “The stand-up comedian decided to riffer on his mother`s subject because it was the only joke that made people laugh.” In the example, the second speaker contrasts with the first (says the opposite): the crowd was there to hear Chappelle riff on everything from the Wu-Tang clan to Barack Obama to gay rights. We`ve been a bit overstimulated by the design here without thinking how clumsy it might be to pull it out, so definitely reef our idea. See examples of this use on Open Culture, The New Yorker, The Christian Science Monitor, and many others. Reef is a few miles from Kesgrave Church, where you can still see the gypsy queen`s headstone in the cemetery. In this context, I have no idea what this might mean for chess players. It may be slang, or it may be associated with a famous chess player, or it may simply be that someone didn`t understand the meaning of “riff” and applied it to an intelligent move. 2: An energetic and often improvised verbal outpouring These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “reef”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors.