Maybe the conversation came to a halt after it got a little too heated (thank you, primaries), or you accepted an invitation only to realize that you don't have anything in common with your neighbors aside from an address. When your tablemate dropped his fork, you said, "Darn it!" just to break the silence.
For those moments when the awkward silence is, well awkward, it can be useful to have a fallback (because "How 'bout them Yankees?" will only get you so far). Here are 25 things to say when you don't have anything to say at all:
1. "What's your cat's moon sign?"
2. "Who's the last person you blocked on Facebook?"
3. "Tell me about your mother."
4. "What do you think of when I say the word Cerulean?"
5. "Are you ready for this jelly?"
6. "This one time, in band camp..."
7. "What was your favorite joke from The Book of Mormon?"
8. "What do you see when I splatter the gravy from my potatoes on my plate, like this?"
9. "Which one's your favorite child? No, really."
10. "Who do you think should be next season's Bachelor?"
11. "If you could have dinner with any person, living or temporarily resurrected zombie, who would it be?"
12. "Can you lick your elbow?"
13. "Is Beyoncé queen?"
14. "Lannisters or Starks?"
15. "What would you say if I told you this dinner isn't actually vegetarian?"
16. "Are bell-bottoms having a moment?"
17. "Are you a cat person or a kitten person?"
18. "Will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?"
19. "What's the weirdest thing you've ever bought on Craigslist?"
20. "Seriously though: Do you think Rose could have made room for Jack on the door?"
21. "Is it time for dessert yet?"
How do you break the ice? Help us out in the comments below.
Written by: Leslie Stephens
Popular on Food52
22 Comments
What was the most meaningful gift you've ever received?
Tell me about your best and worst first dates.
2. Never ask about spouses or pets.
3. Ask them about what they like to do in their free time: hobbies, their next vacation, etc.
4. Don't talk about money at the dinner table.
The arts are also a good topic, like "have you heard anything about that new ____ exhibit that just opened up at the ____?"
Since I live in Silicon Valley and the only thing everyone seems to want to talk about is work, I make a concerted effort to not ask about tech or something related to social media.
Also, I try to avoid topics that require me to use my cellphone as a prop. As a matter of fact, I normally keep my phone in my pocket, not on the bar or table.
My go-to is "So, what do you do for fun?" Good follow-up questions are "how did you get into that?" and "Tell me about the last time you did that." As long as the other person at least pretends to think I'm interested, it'll keep a conversation going for a while.
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