When ideas fail, words come in very handy (Goethe)

When did you last talk to someone about the weather? Do you find yourself doing it often? With close friends or total strangers? We are all familiar with the myth about Englishmen, when meeting with a stranger they’ll eventually start talking about the weather.  True, English people do talk quite often about the weather, but they probably do that less often than we believe and not because they find climatic conditions such an interesting topic. They, like the rest of us, do that because finding oneself with a total stranger in a small place (let’s say, a train compartment and facing each other) can be quite embarrassing. Therefore by talking to the other person about a neutral topic (you guessed rightly: the weather!) one is making a connection - creating some kind of relationship - without putting too much effort. The other reason may be that by engaging in a conversation people learn things about each other (even if they only discuss the weather) and satisfy their curiosity. These two aspects of languages behavior are very important from a social point of view: first, the function of language in establishing social relationships and the second, the role played by language in conveying information about the speaker. So next time you hear two English (or any other) people talking about the weather, you’ll remember it is in fact all about sociolinguistics…

Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used.

What can be more exciting than turning WORDS into traffic? Check this link for more information:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?idiom/ezarticles