Have you ever just had a conversation and when one of you says nice, cool, or something else like that and then the conversation just comes to silence immediately after that? That is the reason why I try to avoid using such words and the reason why I get slightly annoyed when people use those words. Anyway, How often does this happen to you if at all? Do you or your friend try to break the silence if it happens or does one of you awkwardly walk away?
Already, I talk so little that my conversations are usually ended as soon as I say my signature into, "Howdy." But, yes, conversations are very quiet without anything more to say after words like that. My mind goes blank, and the next thing I know, I'm face-first in a desk, with nothing but thoughts of confusion running through me. I blame head trauma.
I hate to be the guy that does this, but I am. As I stated in my conversations thread, I’m not a conversationalist. I don’t know how to avoid using these words and still acknowledge and respond to the conversation.
Despite being quiet, I can usually carry a conversation for a while. My previous jobs have really helped me with this, so coming up with chatting topics is something I'm decent at. You can talk to people about all sorts of things like hobbies, sports (I mean, my friends like sports), their family, the weather, potato rights, video games, tv shows, etc. I'm not immune to awkward silence, but I'm getting better at avoiding it, for sure.
Meaningful Conversation? What's that? Me and my BF are like this. It can get maddening but we usually end up sending memes and carry on. You might say we have a very memeingful relationship (hAhA.) I'm a chatterbug, there are some topics that'll shut me up, but usually I'm the one carrying on the conversation.
I tend to have this happen to me more than I do it to others. I down play a lot of my amazing work to something that seems mundane and thus many of the people around me respond appropriately with nice. I don't blame them because it is an appropriate term to use when talking about the mundane. I do, do this to others at times, but I try my best to follow it up. Most of the time, I fail to come up with anything interesting to follow up on (stupid broken brain) and end up just repeating the pleasantries of nice and cool until I hit some gold. However, I tend to be highly resistant to the suppressive effects of awkward silences and don't really find the silence after a conversation like that to be all that bad.
I don't have many casual conversations these days, honestly...usually I only talk to people now unless I have something to say, and people rarely seek me out for extended talks. I'm OK with this. But when I was younger this would happen to me a lot online, because "lol" is basically a conversation killer. It used to annoy the hell out of me whenever someone I was talking to would just answer with that and expect me to somehow try to salvage the conversation after that. Usually I just stopped talking completely and responded only if the other person said something after that...which a fair few people didn't. I've never felt particularly uncomfortable with conversations trailing off face-to-face, though. There's often this unspoken agreement to stop talking and it's never particularly uncomfortable...neither of us just has anything else to say. It's an agreeable silence that I wish I'd had more of when I was younger because if I had then I might not be quite so socially awkward now. xD
I try to avoid those words because it often makes people think I’m not listening. Even so, I’ll occasionally let “yeah,” or “okay” slip when I need to finish talking quickly. Most of the time I don’t mind when people use them as long as it isn’t “same.” It feels like a lazy way of saying “I know how that feels,” to me.
I usually attempt to fill most awk silences with a joke, even if it's really lame. I guess that's the best way to describe my sense of humor and it has won me some friends. Over text I'll probably kill a convo with a "nice" or a "ok" but I guess it depends on the situation and what not. Most people don't seem to mind it but every once in a while, someone might get offended but it's just how it is.
I try to include questions regarding details after saying "Nice/cool/etc." because I enjoy learning more about my friends and their activities. If I didn't, I don't think the term 'friend' would fit our relationship well, y'know?
I brutally reject them and them them never to speak to me again just like the girls from my high school Nah I don't do that, Actually, whenever someone tells me something and I'm not listening, I ask a question saying I wasn't listening to that part and then, I connect it with another word,or something and I always pick the right word, apparently because they never catch on. I still try to listen but I'll talk to someone and then I'll be lost in thoughts, all alone
Generally we do this a lot at work, but it rolls into another part of the conversation afterwords. EX: Me: So I finally told (worker X) that he needs to mark his food when he puts it in the fridge or else I have to throw it away due to the standard operating procedure (SOP). Worker Y: Nice! How did he respond to that? Me: He said I need to replace his food. I told him that is not my responsibility, and if he has a problem he should take it up with management. (manager Z walks into the break room) Manager Z: So whatcha doin'? Me: I'm on break. Manager Z: Cool. When you're done, come find me. I have a project for ya. Me: Copy that. That's typically how that ends up for me.
I find it's pretty easy to break out of those kinds of conversational dead-ends by following up with a question. If there is any truth in conversation, it's that humans love to talk about themselves (...), so that's 99% a way to keep going. After Friend announces they did a good thing, instead of saying just "Nice!" I'd follow up with "How does that sense of accomplishment feel?" or "How about the other good thing we were both planning on doing?" or "What is your best advice for doing good thing?". Or if someone Nice!'d me, then I would take it back on the offensive. "Have you had a chance to do good thing yet?" "I've been wondering if you would like trying good thing as well." etc. I have a good success rate with it. That habit reminds me of a character from the old sitcom Scrubs. One character in particular would have a habit of high-fiving people for literally any reason adapted to their situation before walking off minding his own business. It was revealed in one episode that he was rarely ever paying attention at all, but would just pick one word of the conversation, and say "(that thing) five!" with the right emotion and a high-five. "Promotion five!" "Difficult breakup five!" "Working a late-shift five!". Just one word or phrase... and nobody ever caught on. Kind of brilliant in a lazy-but-effective way, especially since it's also a built-in way to end the conversation on a supportive note instead of trailing off!