Words I Made Up

Communication is vital to almost every area of our lives, but when is the last time you had a conversation with someone, and really felt that you were being heard? In my attempt to investigate this problem I am posting the first of a new installment I am calling: Words I made up

Pretendversation  – where someone pretends they are having a conversation with you, but they do all of the talking.
Dramaticating- Something can be happy, sad, scary, funny or whatever as long as it is at it’s the most extreme all of the time. “These curtains are soooo amazing; I have never seen anything like it – they remind me of the room that they found Marilynn Monroe’s body in; I mean those curtains were different, but the feeling is the same – powerful; you know what I mean.”
Interagralking – Talking to someone using this conversation style makes you feel like your a captured spy being interrogated under bright lights. They ask you a litany of questions instead of just talking with you, and rarely wait for an answer – “Where did you go this weekend? Where were you last night? What time did you get up? Did you see the news? Where is that mitten I gave you two years ago?“ <breath> “Are you hungry? Do you like tacos? Where are you going? Hamburgers?”
Echoversating  – two people talking but they are both saying the same thing; even when contradicting each other. “The Cowboys are going to go all the way this year!” says one guy to his chum (yeah I said chum), and his friend replies, “They have some room to improve, but they’re definitely the best team in the league right now.”
 Don’t think this term just applies to guy talk, oh no – see if this sounds familiar:
 “What does she see in him? I mean she is so smart and  pretty, and has so much going for her!” says one gal pal to the other. Her friend bites her lip and rolls her eyes, “No, you know, he’s a great guy when he’s sober, and besides she thinks he’s the one.”
Narcissisting – Someone who always manages to turn the conversation back to themselves, and insists that their experience of something, whatever it is, is the definitive take on the subject. “I’m sure Katrina was bad, but when I was a kid it rained so bad that the … blah blah blah.”

It takes two to communicate, and there are some pitfalls when it comes to listening as well:

Loosening – Instead of listening to the person talking to you, you are trying everything you can to get lose of the conversation and get away. On the phone – “Yeah, yeah, mmm hmmm, right, you know what? I have to go – I think dinner is burning. Right, okay, mmm hmmm. You know I think it is actually the kitchen that is on fire so I should really… right, mmm hmm.”
Dumbderstanding – What a person has when they listen intently to you, but completely miss the point of what you are saying.
Bureaucraudience – Someone who pretends to listen to you because they know this is the quickest way to get you to leave.

I’d love to hear about any new words that you think of!