# Talking with your eyes closed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955 "2009-05-01T10:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/61 "2012-01-31T16:51:00Z")
**Talking with your eyes closed** This seems to be an American (or Anglo-Saxon ?) thing. I noticed it in the U.S. but never in continental Europe. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/62 "2012-01-31T19:08:18Z")
According to the _South Park_ episode “Smug Alert!” it’s something people do after they buy a hybrid car, and it eventually leads to a fondness for smelling one’s own farts. ETA: Oops. Beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/63 "2012-01-31T19:13:33Z")
I;, ttyimh tp syTY TJIS POt quth ny eyws c;osef Translation: I’m trying to start this post with my eyes closed. Doesn’t work too well when typing. But I may do it when I speak. People do say I look away when I start speaking, maybe the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![ROCKWOOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@ROCKWOOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ROCKWOOD)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/64 "2012-07-04T06:48:19Z")
A relative has pointed out to me that I close my eyes for an unnatural amount of time (several seconds) at certain times when I am speaking. I specifically signed up to this site just to comment on and or receive feedback about the issue. I don’t quite know why my .live account was banned, but that’s a topic for another post. I have found little collaborative exchange of comments regarding the subject until I found this site. I have found that the term oculesics is the term for the study of the movement and behavior of the eyes and the non-verbal communication the eyes can convey. Regretfully, I have asked friends whether I do this or not, and now everyone is pointing it out to me. I say regretfully because I really didn’t expect to get so distracted by being told I unconsciously have the specific behaviour. I have heard everything from it makes people think I’m not paying attention to them, that it makes people think I am lying, that it makes people think I am smug, to the fact that it is not normal. I also have what are called hooded eyelids, and perhaps I’m really not closing them, but merely looking down, I do not know. I have never been a very good liar, and anyone who knows me can tell if I am lying with an instant. If I want to convey a smug attitude, I have a complete set of facial expressions specifically for that intent. I am very facially expressive and can pretty much be read like a book. I would not make a very good poker player. I am a creative person and I honestly think it comes from me thinking about what to say and making sure I convey the point very accurately. It doesn’t necessarily have to be serious subject matter either. I think in a 3-D creative way, and I have to funnel it down mentally into a linear way of thinking. It’s really not that easy for me to do, but at the same time, it’s not that hard but I sometimes have to concentrate to accomplish it. I think it could also have to do with shutting out visual stimuli as well. For me, and I think for many others, this particular habit has no negative connotation what-so-ever as to what the validity of what the person with the habit is saying, nor does it have anything to do with the manner in which the person is perceiving who he/she is talking to. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/65 "2012-07-04T13:38:36Z")
When I’m talking with other people, I think I mostly do it when I’m trying to recall something. When I’m by myself, I tend to do it when I’m trying to recall something or when I’m trying to step through some code in my head (I’m a software developer). ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/66 "2012-12-30T23:52:48Z")
When I visited the London Globe Theater back in '88 the tour guide would talk with his eyes closed half the time. It was actually pretty damn creepy. For non-creepy people, I think when people close their eyes while talking they are thinking hard about what words to say. At least, that’s how I do it, if I even do it. I’m not aware of actually ever doing it. :o (Yes, I’m aware this thread has been zombie-fied multiple times but I figured what the hey…) ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/67 "2012-12-31T23:48:27Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > (Yes, I’m aware this thread has been zombie-fied multiple times but I figured what the hey…) Hey, at least you’re the first resurrector who isn’t just a drive-by, posting in this thread alone, never to be heard from again. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955/68 "2013-01-01T00:02:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’m curious about something. > > I’ve noticed that a lot of people, when they talk, especially at the beginning of a sentence or for a significant pronouncement, will have their eyes closed as they speak. > > Presumably there will be some Dopers who do it. I’ve seen it a lot in Brits, not so much in Americans, though I don’t think it would be a cultural thing. I even have a friend who does it, but I haven’t asked him about it, as it seems like a bit of a weird thing to bring up in conversation. > > Anyways, I was wondering if there’s any particular reason for it. If anyone here does it, why do you do it? Are you aware that you’re doing it? > > Is it completely involuntary, like a nervous tic? Is it a deliberate emphasis? > > Hope someone here has some insight. Pun not intended. Not sure why but girls do it more than guys and people that cannot remember some thing close eye . And only time I close my eye is washing my hair . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-with-your-eyes-closed/494955.md?page=3)