Conversational styles (America, faith, Christianity, Christian, Christ)

[Booko]

We all know that conversational styles change from one part of the world and culture to the next, but seeing as there are people from so many places here...why not compare a few of them?

What general region or culture are you from (or do you get your "style" from)?

Do people talk one at a time, or are there multiple conversations at the same time?

Do people talk quietly or more loudly?

When asking questions or answering them, are people direct or more indirect in their questions and replies?

What kinds of topics are just "taboo"? What kinds of questions do you "just not ask"?

What kinds of things would people around you NOT talk about to a stranger?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the conversational style you practice?

What other conversational styles are you familiar with?

What are their advantages/disadvantages?

Is it true that Sunstone has developed a permanent quaver in his conversational style from spending too much time bouncing on trampolines, or is that just another silly RF rumour no one knows how it started?

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by Booko

What general region or culture are you from (or do you get your "style" from)?

Hmm, in a conversational sense? I would say it comes from:

1. Slavic
2. Bosniak
...
508. East European
509. Muslim

Originally Posted by Booko

Do people talk one at a time, or are there multiple conversations at the same time?

There are generally multiple conversations at the same time. And when Bosnians speak, there's no such thing as periods or commas. Just watch the English-language coverage of conferences at the American Embassy in Sarajevo. The poor translator will recite what some Bosnian aristocrat has said, and it's like:

"I believe that the people, that is the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have a right to choose whether or not they will express their faith, and this is in relation to Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism, and this belief is the foundation for our laws, so-called secular laws, which provide for people of all faiths to choose whether or not they will, as an example, wear a Christian cross or, as another example, an Islamic cross, and this is what we see lacking in much of Europe but it has to be said that the laws as they are implemented in America are quite appealing to us because they express the same belief that people are free to belong to any faith they choose, and not only that, but also to express that faith in the form of clothing in any way they choose, and in any situation, and this is what... etc."

Originally Posted by Booko

Do people talk quietly or more loudly?

Loudly, and with a significant number of curse words. You can be sitting at a cafe, and everyones arms are flying around in conversation, in a loud hum of chatter - and then someone will recognize a friend across the street and you're all privy to a screamed conversation:

"HEJ! NINA! WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING DOWNTOWN, *****? COME OVER AND HAVE COFFEE WITH US!"

"**** YOU! I CAN'T! I'M JUST RUNNING AN ERRAND FOR MY ****ING GRANDMOTHER! GIVE ME A CALL LATER TONIGHT, YOU ****!"

"WELL, **** YOU THEN! I HOPE YOUR MOTHER HAS TO SEARCH THE RIVER FOR YOUR BODY WITH A HOOK!"

Etc...

Originally Posted by Booko

When asking questions or answering them, are people direct or more indirect in their questions and replies?

Direct, very direct.

Originally Posted by Booko

What kinds of topics are just "taboo"? What kinds of questions do you "just not ask"?

Nothing really, among relatives and friends, not even in public.

Originally Posted by Booko

What kinds of things would people around you NOT talk about to a stranger?

Finances.

Originally Posted by Booko

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the conversational style you practice?

We scare and annoy everyone who wasn't born within 500 km of Sarajevo.

Originally Posted by Booko

What other conversational styles are you familiar with?

Submissive, rural, Muslim girl syndrome. "Ma'am", "Sir", etc.