Subjects to avoid in British small talk: Salary

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.

Neil: Hey Callum!

Callum: Hey! Hey Neil, how’s it going? Haven’t

seen you in ages…

Neil: It’s been a while.

Callum: Yeah, yeah. How’s the kids? How’s

the family?

Neil: Yeah, yeah. They’re good, they’re good.

And you… I heard you’ve got a new job.

Callum: Yes I have, yes. Started a few weeks

ago, yeah, yeah…

Neil: So… What’s the salary?

Callum: Um… It’s OK. I’ve got to go…

Neil: How much exactly? How much

do they pay you?

Callum: Um… some. Enough.

Neil: What’s the figure?

Callum: Sorry, I’ve got to run. See ya.

Neil: OK. Nice to see you. Bye. See ya.

Neil voiceover: Let’s see what our experts

have to say about that.

Sam: They seem to know each other; seem to

have a little bit of knowledge of each other.

Kee: Absolutely. He’s obviously found out

that he’s changed jobs.

Sam: Yeah, yeah. And he reacted really

nicely to it.

Kee: Yeah, absolutely. Until he decided to

ask how much he’s earning.

Sam/Kee : Yeah. His salary.

Kee: Why would you not ask

that question?

Sam: It’s just not a common question. It’s

considered very rude to talk about money generally…

Kee: It is, isn’t it?

Sam : But specifically money you make.

Kee: Right.

Sam/Kee: It’s just not done. No, you wouldn’t

ask that, would you? Sam: So, what do

you think he could have

done instead?

Kee: I think the obvious question is, ‘How

are you finding your new job?’

Sam: Yeah.

Kee: Are you enjoying it? You know, like,

what are your colleagues like?

Sam: Yeah

Kee: Or even just asking about the job itself.

‘What are you doing in your new job?’ I think

that’s a standard thing to do rather than…

‘So, what’s your salary?’

Sam: Exactly.

Kee: And I think most people will want to

talk about their new job.

Sam: Yeah definitely.

Kee: They’ll want to tell the other person

about what they enjoy and what they’re not

enjoying. But not this guy. Money.

Neil voiceover: Thanks for the tips, guys.

I’ll try harder next time.