Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I prefer wait style, but I don't mind occasional interruptions so long as they are very brief and immediately yield control back to the original talker. Like:

---

A: We just got a new shipment of XYZs, we need to --

B: Woa woa sorry, what's a XYZ again?

A: It's a type of ABC.

B: Right, okay.

A: Anyway, we need to ...

---

In that exchange, it's still implicitly A's turn even when B is speaking; B is just "borrowing" the turn and has to give it back quickly. I wouldn't find this rude; B just did it so he wouldn't be bamboozled by the unfamiliar term in the rest of the conversation. But if B had interrupted and started off down on his own topic, like how in his opinion it's a bad idea to buy XYZs and we should make our own instead, that would be rude. That's stealing A's turn, not borrowing.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: