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Subjects to avoid in British small talk: Politics


Neil voiceover: I’ve been working at the BBC

for a long time now. I’ve met lots of people.

And I sometimes bump into them… and make

small talk. They call it small talk, but that

doesn’t mean it’s of little importance.

Debbie: Neil.

Neil: Hello Debbie

Debbie: Hiya.

Neil: I didn’t think you were here today.

Debbie: Yep. Just the trains… loads of delays.

Neil: Terrible, aren’t they? Really awful.

Next election, I tell you, I’m going to vote

this lot out.

Debbie: Yeah, yeah things could be better.

It’s not great.

Neil: So, who do you vote for normally?

Debbie: Sorry?

Neil: Who do you vote for? Which party?

Are you political? Are you a member of a party?

Debbie: Um… Um… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…

I just… I’ve just… I’ve just got to speak

to someone.

Neil: Yeah.

Debbie: Jim! Sorry. Jim!

Neil: See you later.

Neil voiceover: Let’s see what our experts

have to say about that.

Sam: I thought he made a really strong start

with the transport and the delays. And she

was willing to answer those questions and

talk about it. And we love talking about delayed

trains in the UK.

Kee: He could have talked about his

own journey in. Sam: Yeah.

Kee: But instead he went for something else.

Sam : And yeah… you can… even talking

about politics, the fact that there’s a general

election – fair enough, you can say,

‘Oh yeah, things are interesting at the moment

with the general election’, but you could

leave it there. Kee: Sure, sure.

Sam: You wouldn’t talk about who

you voted for.

Kee: And also, they’re in the canteen.

Sam: Yeah

Kee: ‘What did you buy?’

Kee/Sam: ‘What have you got for breakfast?’

A lot of clues in there – things that you

could talk about. Absolutely.

Sam : He had something in his hand.

Kee: Yeah he had like a…

Sam: She was clearly on her way to get something.

Kee: Sure, yeah. And I think as soon as he

asked that question, she was looking for an

excuse to get away from him. So the

signs were there, like you say.

Sam: Written all over her face.

Neil voiceover: Thanks for the tips, guys.

I’ll try harder next time.

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