Awkward silence
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An awkward silence is a pause in a conversation which the participants find uncomfortable.[1] It is commonly preceded by an ill-considered remark or an imbalance in which one of the participants makes minimal responses.[2] When Europeans communicate with Japanese, a period of meaningful silence is sometimes misinterpreted as an awkward silence.[3]
[edit] In art and literature
In Pulp Fiction, Mia and Vincent discuss awkward silences after a pause in their conversation at Jackrabbit Slim's:[4]
| “ | Don't you hate that? Hate what? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit? In order to be comfortable? I don't know. That's a good question. That's when you know you found somebody really special, when you can just shut the fuck up for a minute. Comfortably share silence. |
” |
[edit] References
- ^ She's worried about awkward silence, Boston Globe, February 16, 1993
- ^ Margaret L. Mclaughlin, Michael J. Cody (17 Mar 2006), "Awkward Silences: Behavioural Antecedents and Consequences of the Conversational Lapse", Human Communication Research, doi:, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119564011/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
- ^ Christalyn Brannen (2002), Going to Japan on Business: Protocol, Strategies, and Language for the Corporate Traveler, Stone Bridge Press, pp. 73, ISBN 9781880656730, http://books.google.com/books?id=X5jDn2aRnd0C
- ^ Stefan H. Krieger (Spring, 2001), "A Time to Keep Silent and a Time to Speak", Oregon Law Review 80 (1), http://www.law.uoregon.edu/org/olr/archives/80/80_Or_L_Rev_199.pdf
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