April 4, 2011, 8:30 PM
Talking to No Purpose
By STANLEY FISH
On Saturday, during halftime at the NCAA semi-finals, a reporter asked the Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun how his team had managed to build up a 10-point lead. He replied, more or less, We played good defense, although we didn’t get enough rebounds. What will you have to do in the second half?, the reporter queried brightly. Add rebounds to the good defense was the answer.
“And how are you going to do that?”
Calhoun smiled a little smile and said: “Get the ball off the boards.”
The reporter nodded as if she had just been told something, but of course she hadn’t been. Getting the ball off the boards is just a longer version of “get rebounds.” You get rebounds by getting rebounds, he was saying, while his smile was saying, “Why are you asking me such a dumb question?” She might have replied, “That’s my job,” by which she would have meant that it is her job to elicit formulaic and non-informative responses to formulaic and non-serious questions in the few seconds allotted to her by the network. It may have looked like an exchange of information, but in fact it was more like a ritual: I ask the expected empty question, you give the expected empty answer; just play the game.
This kind of thing goes on all the time in the sports world. Years ago, I wrote about the Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dennis Martinez, who was asked by a reporter to talk about what was said in a conversation with his manager just before a game. Martinez replied, “He said, ‘Throw strikes and keep ‘em off the bases,’ and I said, ‘O.K.’ What else could he say, what else could I say?” That is, he told me to do what I was there to do, and I said I would; it was a little late for him to be explaining the goals and mechanisms of the job, and it was certainly a little late for me to be asking for the explanation he wasn’t about to give.
If the exchange between Calhoun and the reporter was a ritual — nothing really expected on the part of either — the exchange between Martinez and the manager was a bit of cheerleading, equivalent to “go get ‘em” or “let’s do it,” or a pat on the behind.
What exactly is the use of such talk? It’s not communication or the imparting of information or even a command, although it often takes the grammatical form of a command. It’s more visceral than anything else; it satisfies an almost bodily need to say something, not in order to alter the world, but in order to effect, through words, a release from inner pressure. It’s like a valve letting off steam. It’s halftime and someone has to make official what everyone already knows (one team played better defense than the other, that’s why it’s ahead); it’s game time and player and manager buck each other up before going onto the field.
You don’t have to be engaged in athletics to use language this way, as reassurance rather than as communication. When I set off to work (a nearly two-hour jaunt) my wife always says, “Drive carefully,” and I say “I will” rather than “What for?” or “I like taking chances.” In the winter, we say to each other “keep warm,” as if what was required was an act of the will. No one replies, “I am determined to be cold.” Weather conditions especially seem to call forth these ejaculatory formulations: “Cold enough for you?” “Warm enough for you?” “Sure is a hot one!” “Staying dry?” “Nice day today.” “How about this weather!”
Paying compliments is another fertile field: “Way to go!” “Good job.” “Nice work.” “Attagirl.” To all of which the obligatory laconic response is “Thanks.” Waiters are especially skilled: “Everything O.K.?” “How is everything?” “Enjoying the sea bass?” And the answers – “Yes,” “Fine” and “Yes.” What else could he say, what else could I say?
I am sure that there are many other examples from many other contexts to be noted and catalogued. I just can’t think of any at the moment. Maybe you can help. Just remember the requirement: words uttered largely for the purpose of ritual performance or cheerleading or letting off steam, words that are strictly unnecessary because they say the obvious, words to which a response must be given in order to complete a social exchange and for no other reason. I look forward to hearing from you.
