We Are Talking Less Each Day

People are talking less than they used to. A new study shows that the average person says far fewer words each day than 20 years ago.

Two researchers in the United States, Matthias Mehl and Valeria Pfeifer, looked at audio recordings from more than 2,000 people. Most of the people were Americans. The researchers found that in 2005, the average person said about 16,600 words a day. By 2019, that number had fallen to below 12,000 words. That is a drop of 28% in 14 years. Across the full study periodstudy period: the years a research study covers — 研究期, this adds up to millions of fewer words spoken.

“At first I said, ‘That can’t be right,’” Mehl recallsrecall: To remember something; to officially order the return of a product. — 回忆；召回. He and his team checked the numbers again. The fall was real, and it had happened a little more each year.

Mehl thinks that modern technology is one big reason. His study looked at people aged 10 to 94. Spoken words dropped in every age group, but the drop was sharpest among people under 25. Young people use texts and messaging apps more than older adults. When you send a message, you do not need to speak.

Social isolationisolation: the state of being separated from others, or the process of setting something apart — 隔离；孤立social isolation: being cut off from other people — 社交孤立 is another likely cause. Since the early 2000s, surveys show that Americans spend more time alone and less time with other people. Remote work has grown, and team work in offices has fallen. If people spend less time together, they say less.

A third cause is the lossloss: the fact of no longer having something, or having less of something than before — 损失；丧失 of small talksmall talk: light, informal conversation with strangers — 闲聊 in public places. Contactlesscontactless: (of a delivery, exchange, etc., of physical goods) conducted without human-to-human contact so as to improve ease of use or reduce the potential spread of a contagious disease; contact-free — 无接触的；非接触式的 paymentspayment: An amount of money that is paid for something. — 付款；支付 and digital orderingordering: The placement of an order for goods or services — 订购；点单 systems mean we do not need to speak to a checkout person or a waiter. “We can shop for groceriesgrocery: Items of food sold in a shop; a shop selling food and household goods. — 食品杂货；杂货店 now without talking with a checkout person,” Mehl says. “All these ways in which we have made our daily lives more efficientefficient: Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. — 高效的；效率高的 may have also made our social lives more basicbasic: Forming the most important or fundamental part of something; simple. — 基本的；基础的.”

Mehl says this is a problem. When we send a text instead of speaking, we lose the tonetone: The quality or character of a sound; the general feeling or attitude expressed in something. — 语气；音调；基调 of someone’s voice, their body languagebody language: what your face, hands and posture show — 肢体语言, and other non-verbalverbal: relating to or in the form of words, especially spoken rather than written — 口头的；言语的；文字的 cuescue: A signal for someone to do something; a hint or indication. — 暗示；提示non-verbal cues: signals you give without words, like gestures or face — 非语言信号. Text is often unclearunclear: Ambiguous; liable to more than one interpretation — 模棱两可的. We use emojis to fix that, but emojis cannot replace a real face or a real voice. These signalssignal: a movement, light, or sound that gives information or tells people what to do — 信号；暗号 help us feel close to each other.

Gillian Sandstrom, a psychologypsychology: The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour. — 心理学 professor at the University of Sussex in the U.K., studies small talk. She says these short chats with strangersstranger: a person that you do not know — 陌生人 do more for us than we think. “When we have these little interactionsinteraction: Communication or direct involvement with someone or something. — 互动；交流, it puts us in a good moodmood: the way someone is feeling at a particular time — 心情；情绪 and helps us feel more connected,” she says.

Sandstrom calls herself shyshy: nervous and uncomfortable about meeting or talking to people — 害羞的；腼腆的, and she used to avoid small talk. But her work has changed her. “The more you do it, the better you get at it,” she says. Small chats with strangers, she explains, build our sense of belongingsense of belonging: the feeling that you fit into a group — 归属感. “All these little conversations add up to us feeling like people are generallygenerally: Usually; in most cases. — 通常；一般来说 good, I can talk to anybody, and I have a place in this world.”