We tend to assume that we have a baseline of speech that's going to be normal in all contexts, but the truth is, we all change our ways of speaking depending on who we're talking to. And so I think it's kind of a gesture of politeness to the people you're speaking to to try to say something in their own idiom.

Deborah Tannen

Deborah Tannen

Assume Change Depending Gesture Going I Think Idiom Kind Normal Our Own People Politeness Say Something Speaking Speech Talking Tend Think Truth Truth Is Try Ways Who You

Related Quotes

I think heterosexuality and homosexuality are a kind of psychosis, and the truth is somewhere in the middle.

— Jeanette Winterson

HomosexualityI ThinkKind

I think that the truth is a really stern taskmistress.

— Carrie Fisher

I ThinkReallyStern

I think it's an Irish thing. We don't really care. We say it as we mean it, and you have to deal with it. The truth is the truth.

— Conor McGregor

CareDealI Think

I think the truth is black-and-white.

— Nancy Grace

Black-And-WhiteI ThinkThink

I think truth is weirder than fiction.

— James Marsters

FictionI ThinkThan