LL-L "Etiquette" 2011.05.27 (04) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 27 May 2011 - Volume 04
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From: Pat Reynolds pat at caerlas.co.uk
 Subject: LL-L "Etiquette" 2011.05.27 (01) [NL/DE]

From: Sandy Fleming fleemin at live.co.uk

I wonder if anybody would like to offer opinions on this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13545386

If you agree with this, do you think Low Saxon speakers, Frisians, Dutch are
more like Germans or British?



I disagree with how this article reports ‘phatic’ communication, which I
believe is not about ‘politeness’ or ‘lying’, but about  messages which do
not bear any meaning apart from to assert that there is a communication
channel open.



So an exchange might go:

Person A “Lovely weather for ducks!”

Person B “The garden needs it!”.



Now, we both know we are standing in a downpour. The communication does not
tell either of us anything (other than the subtle messages of class, region,
etc. which is carried in our voices – but this is often between people who
know this already.



What this communication does is let one another know that we are open to
recieve communications.  So it might go:

Person A: “oh, that reminds me ... could you feed our cat tomorrow evening?”
(nb, there is nothing in the previous conversation to remind anyone of cats
or meals!)

Or Person B: “The garden needs it .... but it’s playing my rheumatics up – I
don’t suppose you are going past the chemist?”



If Germans do not make ‘small talk’, I strongly suspect that body language
shows that one is prepared to talk.



The euphemism is something else....

---



Pat Reynolds



It may look messy now ...

         ... but just you come back in 500 years time (T. Pratchett).

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From: "Stellingwerfs Eigen" <info at stellingwerfs-eigen.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Dear Sandy, All,
About 'Small Talk'...

In my opinion small talk is very personaly and can't be generalized, unless
you have to, for some reason. Then I rather think - in general -;-) it has
more to do how serious people are. From south (Europe) to the north, people
become more and more serious, in a way. People from the south are - as far
it small talk concerns - on the street or in a bar more socially then in the
north, in my view.

And small talk somtimes can be dangerous, listen...
Just today I went to the supermarket, as my wife asked me to do. There I saw
a man (somwehere around 40 years) reading all the ingediënts on a packet of
French cheese, or something like that. When I passed him by, I small talked
something like 'het de vrouw jow d'r ok op uut stuurd?' (Did your wife send
you to?). And he replyed 'Ik bín de vrouw, heur!' (I ám the wife, you
know!). Indeed, five minutes later I saw the two guys, walking hand in hand
on de parking place...
Mit een vrundelike groet uut Stellingwarf,
Piet Bult


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