Years ago, during a very bad time in my life, I went to lunch with a male friend and poured my heart out to him. This was bad stuff, serious stuff, and I really needed my friend’s ear.
At the end of our lunch, an older man walked over and passed a note to my friend: It said: “The average woman speaks three words for every word a man utters during that day.” Or something to that effect. He then scurried away, perhaps fearing what my next three words might be. (First one “go,” last one, “yourself.”)
A week late, but I feel so <a href=”http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070705/ap_on_re_us/who_talks_most;_ylt=Ah1xGZxbbfrrz7V22ZItVUfMWM0F
“_blank”>vindicated</a>.
It’s too bad you can’t find that man and give him a copy of that story
What a jerk. Karen, it is too bad!
The longest phone call I ever had was with a male friend who called me and talked for four hours and five minutes (yes, I did get a few words in, but not nearly two hours and two and a half minutes worth). That was at least thirty years ago, and I still remember that conversation.
According to my husband, a college professor, the men in his classes speak three times as much as the women and have a third as much of value to say. Now that may be another stereotype but one I can live with.
He probably was ticked he couldn’t hear every single thing.
Unbelievable.
Jeanne
What kind of creep do you have to be to pass a note like that to someone? Ugh. I dislike people.
At first I thought this was a note to me to stop sending so many postcards.
Men DO give worse email, that I can confirm.
I’d be interested in the same study done with non-children. I talk much less than I did when I was 20.
I’ve read for years about how girls feel intimidated in classrooms and don’t speak up. Seems to me there are studies about this and it’s led to some newish school for girls only. I saw that study and wondered abou the setting. College? That’s NOT a normal environment. There are no parents, children, relatively few strangers around, there are far more opportunities for conversation in college than in the workplace…it strikes me as a weird experiment or at least done in a way that can’t be measured due to its unique location.
I’m not saying the study is wrong or right. It does seem to me that “out there” where I don’t live (I live in a world populated by science fiction and mystery fans, all of whom cherish talking as a good thing, but the men I know mostly aren’t “normal”) men are still not encouraged to talk the way we women are in social personal settings. but in the classroom/workplace I would imagine men get lots of talking done.
The urban legend will live on just as the one about human requiring 8 glasses of water (NOT SO, you get at least 1/2 of what you need from FOOD) will live on despite being disproved and explained a while ago. (four at most is enough, folks). But it’s a cherished “everyone knows” so we’re stuck with it.
Men who hand notes to strangers are sad little people – and yeah, I vote for how he was pissed off because you spoke too low for him to eavesdrop.
Not many details about the Science study. Would be interesting to see the breakout of talking when the male and female genders were together versus single sex groups.
Well, some folks might believe he recognized you…;). Or he’s just a jerk. Who knows? I know that when my hubby was alive, and we’d be apart, my emails would be pages long, and his would be : Miss you, love you, Love bob. I can’t wait to see him again at the end of all things.
I’m not gonna talk about this. (Take that article!)
When my son was in college, I gave him a cell phone so that I could easily be in touch with him. Over a four year period, he averaged 3000 minutes each month which led me to believe he talked a lot, only not to me. For those of you whose eyebrows raised at the cost of the minutes, rest assured, he followed instructions and talked mostly after 9pm and on weekends when the talk time was free. Still, I hardly ever use up half my 400 monthly allotment of minutes…
Yikes–I think if you took me out of the equation, the average number of words spoken by all guys worldwide would be halved.
Anyone who’s ever met me know I speak the truth…in as many words possible.