222: Small Talk

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Small Talk

Title text: But surely I owe you an accurate answer!

Explanation

Cueball is approached by his friend who offers one of the standard greetings of, "What's Up? How've you been?" In standard "small talk," an appropriate answer would be only one or two words (e.g. "Fine" or "Pretty good"). These are generally positive responses, with negative ones only offered in extreme circumstances. In this situation, Cueball forgets that this type of answer is what his friend is expecting. Instead, he contemplates thoroughly on his condition, wanting to provide accurate, detailed information to his friend. His response sheds light on the many layers of meaning a simple question such as "What's up?" can have. His friend, thrown off by the delayed response, snaps his fingers to regain Cueball's attention and reminds him that they are having a conversation, which is best facilitated by the standard short responses.

The title text shows that Cueball was more interested in accuracy than the ease of the conversation, simply out of respect for his friend.

This was one of the earliest examples of problems with social interactions for Cueball (or Randall). Since this comic it has been a recurring theme on xkcd. It is especially similar to the much later 1961: Interaction.

Transcript

[Two Cueballs standing next to each other]:

[Header box on top of the panel:]

Sometimes I forget how to do small talk.

Friend: Hey!

Cueball: Hey, man!

Friend: What's up? How've you been?

Cueball: Well...

[Three overlapping identical frames of the two Cueballs standing next to each other indicate the passage of time.]

[The Cueball on the left snaps his fingers at the Cueball on the right.]

Friend: Uh, you ok?

Cueball: Yeah! It's just an interesting question. I'm trying to decide what best sums up my--

Friend: Hey. Conversation.

Cueball: Oh, right. I'm fine. You?

Snap

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Discussion

You know, Dr. Manhattan had a response to the question "What's up?" 84.251.27.117 22:55, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

Apparently, this is common in German speaking countries. When asked "how are you?" many will give long, detailed, accurate answers. -- 173.245.50.144 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Wow, the earliest social interactions comic. Herobrine (talk) 08:18, 13 April 2018 (UTC)