What is an obligabit? It's an obligatory bit of conversation. It's small talk. It's something you say to fill the spaces in conversation, to put people at ease, to comment on something that you're experiencing at the moment that defines the moment. Some can be profound, but most are meaningless.
Obligabits vary by region, by country, by language. They don't translate well, because if people respond to them as if they are real attempts at conversation, you can spend way more time than you want talking about something like how much exercise you really get walking from your car to the restaurant.
Obligabits come in many categories - weather, work, elevator rides, facebook, twitter, generational divides, food, pets, family... the list is endless.
There probably aren't many of these you haven't heard before, many times.
Weather: "You know what they say... if you don't like the weather in [insert location], wait a minute and it will change."
Dining Out: [when the check comes] "What's the damage?"
No comments:
Post a Comment