You know the moment. Two people meet, perhaps in a lift or at a conference coffee line. There’s a pause, then someone says, “Strange weather we’re having.” Both smile, the silence breaks, and a tiny bridge of connection is built. Or sometimes, not.
It seems so ordinary, yet this simple habit has been studied for nearly a century. Linguists call it small talk, and it reveals how people everywhere use language not just to exchange facts but to keep the social world running smoothly.
The Hidden Purpose of Small Talk
In 1923, anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski coined the term phatic communion to describe what he called “free, aimless social intercourse.” He noticed that people often speak not to share information but to create a sense of belonging. His example was the line “Nice day today.” It was not about weather reports but about connection.
Later researchers such as Robinson (1972) and Laver (1975) built on this idea, showing that small talk helps people begin, smooth, or end interactions. It can ease tension, test the mood, or prepare for more serious discussion. Linguists Juliane House and Dániel Kádár describe it as a ritual: a predictable exchange that keeps social order intact.
Small talk, they argue, is one “Type of Talk” that sits between openings and closings in any conversation. It relies on familiar speech acts like greetings, short questions, and small remarks that everyone recognises. The goal is not depth but comfort.
Why We Turn to the Weather
So why, of all topics, do people reach for the weather? Because it perfectly fits the social purpose of small talk. It is shared, safe, and neutral. Everyone can comment on it, no one will take offence, and it invites an easy response.
When Malinowski first described phatic communion, his very first example was “Nice day today.” That one line became a symbol of this universal human impulse. Decades later, Geoffrey Leech formalised the same instinct as the Phatic Maxim: “Avoid silence. Keep talking.” Weather talk was simply the most reliable way to do that.
A later study by Ludmila Urbanová (1997) showed how people use weather comments as polite fillers when genuine topics feel awkward or too personal. Analysing a dinner scene in Paul Theroux’s My Other Life, she observed guests nervously waiting for the Queen, unsure what to say. They turned to weather remarks: “I think the sun was trying to come out today,” “We’ve been extraordinarily lucky this winter.” These lines had no real content, but they worked. They kept everyone safe from silence and from misstep.
In English-speaking cultures, especially, the weather has become a shared stage where everyone can participate without risk. It is a small but powerful way of saying, “I’m friendly, and we’re in this together.”
How This Ritual Took Shape
From Malinowski’s early writing to the modern studies by House and Kádár, the thread is the same. Small talk is not meaningless. It is a form of social maintenance. Talking about the weather became its clearest form because the weather is the one thing everyone shares.
The pattern holds across cultures, even when expressed differently. In English, small talk might start with “Hi, how are you? Good to see you.” In Chinese, a friend might simply remark, “You’re here too.” The words change, but the ritual remains.
What It Means for Us
Whether in an office corridor or an online meeting, those brief exchanges still matter. They set the tone, establish trust, and make interaction smoother. The next time you comment on the weather, remember you’re not just filling silence. You’re performing one of the oldest social acts in human language. Creating connection through words that mean little but matter a lot.
So how’s the weather wherever you are reading this from right now?
Research Sources:
- Edmondson, W. and House, J. (1981). Let’s Talk and Talk About It: An Interactional Pedagogic Grammar of English. Urban & Schwarzenberg.
- House, J. and Kádár, D.Z. (2023). Speech Acts and Interaction in Second Language Pragmatics: A Position Paper. Language Teaching, 1–12.
- Kádár, D.Z. (2017). Politeness, Impoliteness and Ritual: Maintaining the Moral Order in Interpersonal Interaction. Cambridge University Press.
- Laver, J. (1975). Communicative Functions of Phatic Communion. In A. Kendon, R.M. Harris and M.R. Key (eds), Organisation of Behaviour in Face-to-Face Interaction. Mouton Publishers.
- Leech, G. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. Longman.
- Malinowski, B. (1923). The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages. In C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards (eds), The Meaning of Meaning. Routledge.
- Robinson, W.P. (1972). Language and Social Behaviour. Penguin.
- Urbanová, L. (1997). Some Thoughts on
Written on 12 Jan 2026.
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