Noun

Singular conversation

Plural conversations

conversation (plural conversations)

1. (obsolete) Interaction; commerce or intercourse between people.
2. (obsolete) Sexual intercourse.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 333:

     The landlady therefore would by no means have admitted any conversation of a disreputable kind to pass under her roof.

3. (archaic) Behaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review of Books, 2001, p. 50:

     There are many that take no heed what happeneth to others by bad conversation , and therefore overthrow themselves in the same manner through their own fault, not foreseeing dangers manifest.

4. Expression and exchange of individual ideas; talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking.

   I had an interesting conversation with Nicolas yesterday about how much he's getting paid.

5. (fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.

Related terms

• converse
• conversant
• conversational

Derived terms

• conversation piece

A conversation is communication between multiple people. It is a social skill that is not difficult for most individuals. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views on a topic to learn from each other. A speech, on the other hand, is an oral presentation by one person directed at a group.

For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions. A successful conversation includes mutually interesting connections between the speakers or things that the speakers know. For this to happen, those engaging in conversation must find a topic on which they both can relate to in some sense. Those engaging in conversation naturally tend to relate the other speaker's statements to themselves. They may insert aspects of their lives into their replies, to relate to the other person's opinions or points of conversation.

Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational interaction.

Classification of conversation

The word conversation is the verbalization of concepts involving abstractions and concrete objects which make up the world we live in. Also, a conversation is communication by two or more people, or by ones self. It can be very involved or just simple small talk.

Unsourced

• (wife) "Are you listening to me?" -(Steve Sayles)"yes"-(wife)" Well you are not looking at me"-(Steve Sayles) "I listen to the radio, but I don't sit looking at it!" (2004) Steve Sayles

• Egotists cannot converse, they talk to themselves only.
  • A. Bronson Alcott

• "Many can argue, not many converse."
  • A. Bronson Alcott

• The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit.
  • Anonymous

• The less men think, the more they talk.
  • Charles de Montesquieu

• When we are in the company of sensible men, we ought to be doubly cautious of talking too much, lest we lose two good things, their good opinion and our own improvement; for what we have to say we know, but what they have to say we know not.
  • Colton

• Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
  • G. A. Sala
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Dorothy Neville

• The conversational overachiever is someone whose grasp exceeds his reach. This is possible but not attractive.
  • Fran Lebowitz

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Fri Jul 10 18:57:27 2009