One phrase that really irritates me is "water cooler talk" or "water cooler discussions".
First off, nobody on this side of the Atlantic calls it a water cooler. It's generally just called "water".
Secondly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone have a "water cooler discussion".
The idea seems to be that getting a cup of water is a sort of pretext for a conversation. But my experience of the workplace is that you don't really need a pretext. Unless someone is doing something that obviously shouldn't be interrupted, you just go up and talk to them.
Also, people tend to get a cup of water one at a time.
In my experience, "water cooler discussions", insofar as they exist, are usually "waiting for the kettle to boil discussions".
It's a bit like Black Friday sales where Thanksgiving isn't observed. Which is most countries.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's definitely another pet hate...
ReplyDeleteI've assumed (quite likely mistakenly) that "water cooler talk" refers mainly to spiteful gossip, rather than genuine and valuable social interactions in the workplace - the odd quick and nasty "did you hear" comment said in passing.
ReplyDeleteMy experience was that those relatively few (and diminishing over time) situations when there was a good social interaction at work, always involved sitting down and drinking "coffee" (or equivalent) plus/ minus eating together.
These situations had an almost spontaneous tendency to induce some level of group cohesion and affection - even among dissimilar people. I first experienced these at morning coffee, when on visits to my Dad's workplace in my early teens - and always appreciated them from that point.
Bruce, thanks for that! I don't think "water cooler talk"'s currently means spiteful gossip, but it may have originated in that sense. I came across it yesterday in a reference to a TV show, which (the writer said) had never become prominent enough to feature in "water cooler discussions".
DeleteIt's funny you should mention your visit to your father's workplace and the coffee breaks. I had a VERY similar experience. I never had weekend or part-time jobs as a kid (through a combination of timidity and laziness), but when I did work experience I was delighted by the tea break. Then when I did a summer job in my early twenties, somebody brought in doughnuts on my very first day, which also delighted me.
Then, when I began a "proper" job, I came at a time when everybody went on tea-break together. This is the context where I mentioned the discussions about Lord of the Rings (and also the aftermath of 9/11). That has long since stopped happening. I guess I am now quite anti-social in that I see tea-breaks as reading time and get quite put out when people persist in talking to me although I am obviously reading! But, I probably shouldn't, and I do try to be good-humoured about it.