Let’s Talk: How English Conversation Works

Description:
Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation. We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual. It has been described as an art, as a game, sometimes even as a battle. Whichever metaphor we use, most people are unaware of what the rules are, how they work, and how we can bend and break them when circumstances warrant it.

Table of contents :
Cover
Let’s Talk
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Prologue
Chapter 1: Greetings!
Some exceptions
Unusual sequences
Good mornings
Chapter 2: In The Beginning…
New contexts for conversation
Conversation cards
Chapter 3: A Thousand Years of Conversation
Developing dialogues
Battle rapping
Chapter 4: Exchanges
Rituals
Old and new
An unusual exchange
Chapter 5: Taking Turns-Or Not
Complementary speech
Telephone turns
Chapter 6: Interrupting
Turn-banning
Conversation stoppers
One-sided turns
Chapter 7: What We Talk About
Changing the subject
Topical allusions
Chapter 8: How We Talk About It
Being fuzzy
Being parenthetic
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Taking It Easy
Beginnings
Middles: going wrong
Middles: going well
Keeping it going
Endings
Phone beginnings
Chapter 10: Story-Tellling
Maintaining continuity
Adding interest
Comfortable discourse
A thousand days
Chapter 11: Stylistic Options
Formality
Depth
Distance
Enjoyment
Amusement
Hello, Dave
Chapter 12: The Vocal And The Visual
Conversations without words
Acting out the story
Dickensian pauses
Chapter 13: Conversation As Theatre
Rehearsed conversations
Literary conversations
Always a conversation
Chapter 14: Online ‘Conversations’
‘Conversations’
Online help
Chapter 15: Cultural Conversations
Cultural style
Topic choice
A case of cultural misunderstanding
Chapter 16: Breaking The Rules
Pragmatic disorders
The father of it all
Chapter 17: Does Conversation Change?
Novelty 1: like
Novelty 2: so
New openings, reactions, and closings
Chapter 18: #Almost Done
Hashtags
Generation gaps
Epilogue
Appendix: The football grounds conversation
References
Linguistic references
Online references
Some further reading
Index