Hubby & I have found, over the last couple of years…we talk to ourselves. Some evernings, our house is filled with
me:“I’m sorry, honey, I couldn’t hear you”…
him: “it’s ok, I was just talking to myself”…
and vice versa…
anyone else find this?
Should we start prefacing our sentences with “I’m only muttering to myself in case anyone else is listening?” What if we start doing that in public? Yeesh, age is a wonderful thing!
Of course nots, preciousssss. We never mutters to ourselfssss, no.
Muttering to yourself is rude. You should talk to yourself in a clear audiable manner, it helps to adopt a special voice when doing this, maybe a false falsetto or French accent.
nmnmnn mummenrnmm mononmemem momem murrmmer mmummin muwwonnin mummn.
My wife tels me that she can always tell when my job is getting frustrating - I start muttering to myself in the morning while I’m shaving.
Talking to myself? No, no, no, no. I was talking to the cat, you see … 
I do this quite often. Whenever my husband asks me to repeat what I just mumbled because he couldn’t understand what I said, I always tell him not to sweat it, I was just thinking out loud.
Do I mutter to myself? I don’t think I mutter to myself. I mean, not any more than normal people. I guess I might. But there was that one time… Oh, and then the other thing… I’m doing it now. But it’s okay! Hey look, Firefly was greenlighted. Shiny! “Sing us a song, you’re the piano man…” Man, my butt hurts. I should go take a dump. What do I have to read? Let’s see, let’s see… Can I take a dump if I don’t have good reading material? What does that say about me? Hey, I’m muttering for real now. La de da!
I’ve always felt that it’s much healthier to talk to oneself than it is to talk to people who aren’t there.
Actually, I mutter to myself because I was always told to never talk to anyone crazier than I am. <nodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnod>
I live alone, and I often find myself making a running commentary on everything I’m doing. “There’s a spot under the coffee table; I’m going to grab the Swiffer and take care of that right now. You know, while I’m in the closet, I should probably pull out some extra toilet paper for the bathroom. Damn, just knocked over a whole pile of tissue boxes, I’d better pick those up. Now let’s grab the Swiffer and run it over that spot…”
I’m not even sure whether I use a mumbly voice or my normal voice for all of this – I do know that it’s out loud, because occasionally I’ll wonder if anyone can hear me and if they would think I’m crazy.
At work, I try to be quiet, but every once in a while I’ll start commenting on what I’m doing. I’ve explained to people that my computer is voice activated – I just tap on the keys as a nervous habit.
I’ll 'fess up. I mutter when annoyed (usually it’s the very PC that sits before me that prompts this), I think out loud frequently, and I’ve caught myself doing what SpoilerVirgin mentions on many occasions.
It’s like somewhere in my subconscious, I’m convinced there’s an audience watching my every little move. If they simply must watch, then they have to be entertained, as well.
Or at least put up with me entertaining myself, at any rate.
And yet, in a a crowd I don’t say “boo.” I’m not a conversationalist, I’m a soliliquist. Or something…
I speak my thoughts aloud quite often, particularly when I’m writing or getting ready to write something. It helps me articulate my thoughts properly. Usually it’s barely at whisper volume, but occasionally I end up speaking loud enough to attract the attention of friends and family. It’s a little embarassing when it happens, but I’ve never felt any strong desire to correct my self-talking behavior. Often, it beats talking to anybody else in the immediate vicinity. 
Muttering to myself? I have outright conversations with myself, out loud. And I don’t care who knows it. Everybody in my family talks to themselves, all the time. Whenever we catch someone else doing it and ask them why they’re talking to themselves (even though we do it too…), the standard response is: “Well, I’m the only interesting bastard around here to talk to.”
Although, I must admit, when I’m talking to myself in public, I generally tone it down to a mutter so I don’t look too deranged. Or maybe that makes me look even more deranged…
You think that’s bad…
Mum: Mutter mutter
Me: “What”
Mum: “Nothing, I was talking to the microwave”
I feel similar to Leesha. Sometimes, when you are trying to concentrate and think about something, it helps to verbalize. When you are trying to think something through, you may have a lot of different ideas, and a lot of abstractions, and you are fully capable of thinking of several at the same time – which may not always be as helpful. By making yourself verbalize these thoughts, it forces them through (for lack of a better way of putting it) a certain part of your brain. It makes you organize your thoughts somewhat, forces you to express some of the details, and may help you prioritized the differing and sometimes conflicting parts. I think this is true whether you discuss it with someone else, write it down, or talk to yourself.
On the other hand, a lot of the muttering that really takes place around our house, is of the less thoughtful sort. “Now, where did I put that drill?” It drives my wife batty. Except, of course, when it’s her doing it, in which case, it’s me being driven batty. Works for us.
We all mutter to ourselves at work, although usually in the med room so as not to frighten the patients. We realize it can be unsettling to have the person about to add something to your IV line talking to themselves in dark undertones.
Sometimes the talking to oneself (selves?) is more audible and animated. This is also scary to patients and other staff, more so than the muttering. Referring to one’s self in the royal “WE” can sometimes be a cause for pause, but then it sort of mitigates the talking to one’s self. “Are we ready to take our meds now? Yes, we are!”
Cyn, RN
I talk to myself all the time. I think it’s because I’m the only one who’ll listen.
Oh, yes. I do this all the time, and my family hate it. She asks me what I’m saying, and I reply that I’m talking to myself, and she tells me to talk silently. Silence defeats the whole point of talking to yourself, Mama!
I talk to myself constantly at work. A running commentary on what I’m working on, admonishing myself for simple mistakes, talking to AutoCad, talking to the printer (Yes, I realized that my document had printed WHEN I PICKED UP THE FREAKING PIECE OF PAPER! But thanks EVER so much for telling me onscreen too… :rolleyes: )
I also talk to myself at home, mostly when I’m doing maintenence-type stuff on my computer. Actually that’s more of constant rant at the King of the MicroSerfs and the undeniable VALUE of his wares and his close personal relationship with Satan and other things I might say to him if I ever had the HONOR of meeting him…
I, like NE Texan, talk to myself to sort through things. Often I will have one voice asking questions and trying to poke holes in the second voices concept. For some reason the second voice has an educated British accent. If I get too into it I will even interupt myself. I’m not sure how that works.
I live with my 90 year old grandmother whose 90% deaf and whose short term memory isn’t too great so conversations with her are nearly impossible. Also I can’t go out so I don’t really talk to anybody else for days on end.