Definition and Examples of Cooperative Overlap

Definition and Examples of Cooperative Overlap In conversation analysis, the term cooperative overlap refers to a face-to-face interaction in which one speaker talks at the same time as another speaker to demonstrate an interest in the conversation. In contrast, an interruptive overlap is a competitive strategy in which one of the speakers attempts to dominate the conversation. The term cooperative overlap was introduced by sociolinguist Deborah Tannen in her book Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends (1984). Examples and Observations [Patrick] had to wait another five minutes or so before his wife remembered he was there. The two women were  talking at the same time, asking and answering their own questions. They created a whirlwind of happy chaos.(Julie Garwood, The Secret. Penguin, 1992)Mama sat with Mama Pellegrini, the two of them talking so rapidly that their words and  sentences overlapped  completely. Anna wondered, as she listened from the parlor, how they could understand what each was saying. But they laughed at the same time and raised or lowered their voices at the same time.(Ed Ifkovic,  A Girl Holding Lilacs. Writers Club Press, 2002) Tannen on High Involvement Style One of the most striking aspects of high involvement style that I found and analyzed in detail was the use of what I called cooperative overlap: a listener talking along with a speaker not in order to interrupt but to show enthusiastic listenership and participation. The concept of overlap versus interruption became one of the cornerstones of my argument that the stereotype of New York Jews as pushy and aggressive is an unfortunate reflection of the effect of high involvement style in conversation with speakers who use a different style. (In my study I called the other style high considerateness).(Deborah Tannen, Gender and Discourse. Oxford University Press, 1994) Cooperation or Interruption? Cooperative overlap occurs when one interlocutor is showing her enthusiastic support and agreement with another. Cooperative overlap occurs when the speakers view silence between turns as impolite or as a sign of a lack of rapport. While an overlap may be construed as cooperative in a conversation between two friends, it may be construed as an interruption when between boss and employee. Overlaps and interrogative have different meanings depending on the speakers ethnicity, gender, and relative status differences. For example, when a teacher, a person of higher status, overlaps with her student, a person of lower status, typically the overlap is interpreted as an interruption.(Pamela Saunders, Gossip in an Older Womens Support Group: A Linguistic Analysis. Language and Communication in Old Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, ed. by Heidi E. Hamilton. Taylor Francis, 1999) Different Cultural Perceptions of Cooperative Overlap [T]he two-way nature of cross-cultural differences typically eludes participants in the throes of conversation. A speaker who stops talking because another has begun is unlikely to think, I guess we have different attitudes toward cooperative overlap. Instead, such a speaker will probably think, You are not interested in hearing what I have to say, or even You are a boor who only wants to hear yourself talk. And the cooperative overlapper is probably concluding, You are unfriendly and are making me do all the conversational work here... (Deborah Tannen, Language and Culture, in An Introduction to Language and Linguistics, ed. by R. W. Fasold and J. Connor-Linton. Cambridge University Press, 2000)

Definition and Examples of Aphorisms

Definition and Examples of Aphorisms An aphorism is a  tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion or a brief statement of a principle. This is also known as (or similar to) a  saying, maxim, adage, saw dictum, and precept. In The Advancement of Learning (1605), Francis Bacon noted that aphorisms go to the pith and heart of sciences, leaving out illustrations, examples, connections, and applications. In the  article Rhetorical Technique and Governance, Kevin Morrell and Robin Burrow observe that aphorisms are a highly flexible, powerful rhetorical format that can support claims based on logos, ethos, and pathos (Rhetoric in British Politics and Society, 2014). Examples and Observations The word aphorism was first employed by Hippocrates to describe a collection of concise principles, primarily medical, beginning with the famous, Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimentation dangerous, reasoning difficult. . . . Eventually, the term was applied to statements of principles in law and agriculture and extended to other areas.(G. A. Test, Satire: Spirit and Art. University Press of Florida, 1991)Sits he on ever so high a throne, a man still sits on his bottom.(Montaigne)If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.(attributed to Jackie Moms Mabley)I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.(often attributed to Voltaire, the words are in fact Tallentyres summary of Voltaires attitude toward Helvetius after the burning of the latters writings in 1759)All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.(James Thurber)The first rule of Fight Cl ub is, you do not talk about Fight Club.(Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, Fight Club) An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.(H.L. Mencken)Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.(Alice Walker)Your children need your presence more than your presents.(Jesse Jackson)We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.(Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night, 1961) A Five-Part Definition of Aphorism James Geary, in his best-selling  The World in a Phrase [2011],  gives a five-part definition of the form. It must be brief. It must be definitive. It must be personal. (I like his corollary: This is what distinguishes the form from proverbs, for instance, which are really worn-out aphorisms that have had the identity of the original author rubbed away through repeated use.) It must be philosophical. And it must have a twist.(Sarah Manguso, In Short. Harpers, September 2016) The Manipulative Power of Aphorisms Anything that can educate can also manipulate, and anyone selling anything to the public, dictators, CEOs, advertising executives, knows the power of easy-to-remember expressions. I, for one, still believe that It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. Effective ad copy, of course, doesnt have to be true; it simply has to be catchy. But a well-honed aphorism not only stops us in our tracks; it impedes our moving forward. Even if we dont immediately buy into it, it can still deliver a wallop: There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper, Camille Paglia tells us. Is this worth discussing? Or are we being bamboozled by the phrases conspicuous symmetry? True or not, some aphorisms make it hard to imagine anything better ever being said on the subject. . . . And herein lies the danger as well as the appeal of the aphorism. A statement can be so well put that its cogency is entirely dependent on its formulation, but as soon as we reflect on it we may come to another conclusion.(Arthur Krystal, Too True: The Art of the Aphorism. Except When I Write: Reflections of a Recovering Critic, Oxford University  Press, 2011) The quoting of an aphorism, like the angry barking of a dog or the smell of overcooked broccoli, rarely indicates that something helpful is about to happen.(Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Cant Avoid. HarperCollins, 2007) The Lighter Side of Aphorisms I have been testing the  aphorism, A watched pot never boils. I have boiled the same amount of water in this kettle 62 times. In some cases I have ignored the kettle; in others, I have watched it intently. In every instance, the water reaches its boiling point in precisely 51.7 seconds. It appears I am not capable of perceiving time any differently than my internal chronometer.(Lt. Commander Data in Timescape.  Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1993)