# Small Talk Taken Too Far

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [April 27, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547 "2009-04-27T20:22:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547/21 "2009-04-28T20:35:22Z")

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> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Well? _Were_ you making stir fry?

No, I was making lemon chicken with orzo. I already had the lemon, and I did not put any in my Dr Pepper. My husband will not eat broccoli.

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**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547/22 "2009-04-28T21:31:02Z")

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Y’all need to work on your Evil Eye. One glare filled with sufficient malace and loathing stops all those chatty types cold.

Heck, mine is good enough now that it actually stops panhandlers.

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**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547/23 "2009-04-29T03:51:29Z")

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I just wish more small talkers realized that not everyone like it. I find a lot of small talkers are also oblivious to the most obvious social signals.

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**Author:** ![Alastair\_Moonsong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@Alastair\_Moonsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alastair_Moonsong)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547/24 "2009-04-29T04:15:35Z")

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> [@Lightray](#):
>
> Y’all need to work on your Evil Eye. One glare filled with sufficient malace and loathing stops all those chatty types cold.
> 
> Heck, mine is good enough now that it actually stops panhandlers.

Heh… I mastered the Evil Eye of Shut-The-Fuck-Up-Ness by about the age of 12. I never lerned how to turn it off, either; to this day I can stop conversaions I’m not even involved in merely by turning to look at the speakers.

It’s like a superpower! 😛

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-talk-taken-too-far/494547/25 "2009-04-29T16:59:06Z")

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My husband is guilty of this. He doesn’t so much hold a conversation as look for an audience so that he can launch a stream of consciousness outer monologue. I’ve been his audience for twenty-odd years and the show is getting pretty old. Add to it that nowadays he often doesn’t identify what he’s talking about before starting up.

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