"Uh huh. Really? Oh no! Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. You bet. Why not? I know what you mean."
I wonder what percentage of the vocal reactions I provide in the course of a typical conversation are obligatory rather than genuine. What would happen if I swore off all token responses? Would I be more honest, or just more woodenly awkward?
posted by Abram at 9:05 PM
8 Comments:
Uh huh. I know what you mean.
Whacked out genius, Timothy Leary, suggests that a large portion of human conversation boils down to "I'm still here. Are you still here." Like Descartes with low self-esteem, he seems to proffer "I think, therefore I am. Right guys? Guys...?"
cogito ergo sum
This experiment is best set underway in the middle of a conversation, ideally with a ladyfriend, ideally as she describes the vivid contents of a dream she had the night before, ideally the part about making love to Richard Marx in a shoe store and "is that weird?"
you forgot "Right." I hear that a lot. And particularly overuse "You know what I mean?" which would elicit the "I know what you mean". Still waiting for someone to say "No. What DO you mean??"
Right.
Stevie--LOL.
Tokyocrunch--I'm not sure I know what you mean, but I madeout with Smallville's Clark Kent last night in mine.
Defective G-funk--My most frequent filler is, "That's interesting."
Beware of this, because 80% of the time I either mean "You're weird" or "Who cares." For the safety of the world, however, I think I'll continue using it and hope people think they are in the 20% of the interesting conversationalists. And I know 100% of them will think that anyway. ;)
And don't be mistaken: "there you go" is an insult.
I think it's okay to say this crap, because sometimes people are better off not saying what they are thinking... which reminds me of lyrics from a song by the bloodhound gang:
So, Bambi's goin' on about how she can make all my fantasies come true.
So I says, "Even this one I have where Jesus Christ
is jackhammering Mickey Mouse in the doo-doo hole
with a lawn dart as Garth Brooks gives birth to something
resembling a cheddar cheese log with almonds on Santa Claus's tummy-tum?"
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