Real estate, gardening, and remodeling... Yawn!

lizzybee

I think these are all great topics. It's hard to bore me. But I should be careful when I talk to others .. since everything interests me, I assume it interests my audience. And that's been my downfall.

kekil

@mattyblue: Boring? Nah!

He raised on your check; he must have bought the bait and thought you were empty. I doubt he had that flush. So, how did it end up?

Guizzy

You know, I've been thinking about this. What makes something boring and what makes it interesting.

I have a friend who talks a blue streak about lots of minutia and I could listen (and do) for hours.

And I also enjoy talking about hairdos. I'm not above it. I guess the difference is being TALKED AT and having a discussion with. As long as there's give and take and some interest on my part, I'll talk about anything. But as soon as I'm getting a lecture, forget it.

Maulleigh

I get bored with champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Fantasies about what a person would do with all that money if only they had it, especially when they are TRULY grandiose. Zzzzz...zzzzz...

Meka

@Ruthven and others: I think you're missing that "golf" and "wine" are intended as stand-ins for whatever in your life fits. Maybe it's not golf that is your hobby, but I'm sure something is. Also, isn't calling something "utterly stupid" a bit extreme?

fadecomic

Any kind of talk about what you find boring..

Monsterdog

Ugh, my friend talks endlessly about his job, its not even a cool job. It just makes me think about MY job, and that depresses me.

Golf talk is brutal, considering I don't play golf. I like dream talk as long as it is kept short and sweet.

rjm07

Dreams and movies have always been fun to talk about for me. o_0 Though, my dreams are *always* lucid, so maybe that gives them a bit more excitement for discussion?

Funny parts in movies are always awesome to hear too. It gets me introduced to many movies I'd normally shun, but instead I get to have a great laugh at the movie when I go see it.

UnknownVariable

Some of these might be relevant/irrelevant contextually, but dream conversations are never welcome IMO - they are one of my biggest pet peeves. I NEVER care, no matter who it is or how weird it was. No one cares except the person who had the dream. My sister is the worst for this and it annoys the crap out of me.

To all the people who say dream conversations can be really interesting - well, I'd bet you're the people who can never resist relating your dreams. I know, I know, it was just SO WEIRD you can't help but tell us.

CarolinaBlue

Basically, don't talk too much about yourself while disregarding the other person.

nyx210

Oh, let's face it -- the reality is that in general, boring people are boring no matter what they talk about; and interesting people are interesting no matter what they talk about.

nick_r

Don't be a spoiler. I knew this girl who'd ask if you'd read a certain book, and when you said no would tell you every single thing that happened in it. It sucked because some of the books she talked about seemed really interesting, but I lost all desire to read them once I knew every plot detail right up to the last page.

trippingchristy

Itemization of alcoholic beverages consumed over the weekend.

In some cases, the result of such consumption can be boring too. But other times it's pretty juicy.

slipknotmcfadden

I had a roommate in college who told me in detail every hair do she'd had since she was twelve.

I've sat through more than one acid/drug trip recount.

Ugh. My ex used to read me his horrible poetry.

Diet talk bores me.

Maulleigh

@Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor: Maybe so, but just from a lifehacking standpoint, this is a useless tip ... unless you happen to be having a conversation with Gretchen Rubin. The tip is certainly not spot on; it's not even vaguely on. In my experience, there is no such thing as a "general" audience, unless you're striking up conversations with strangers on the street.

Ruthven

So, we've covered hobbies (golf, wine, etc.), our daily personal life (work, health, exercise), culture (television, children, sports, etc.). So what's left for small talk? I mean, the original list basically reads "small talk is bad", which is counter to what almost any business guru would tell you!

fadecomic

what about the weather?

Mostro

Your diet. No one wants to hear about how you no longer eat carbs, or foods that end in a vowel, or how great you feel after cutting out all caffeine, sugar, preservatives and animal products. Seriously. Shut the eff up.

Also? No one really cares that you don't own a television.

TWSS

I love in Los Angeles, and pretty much every conversation gets to complaining about how bad traffic on the freeways is.
Happens every time.

Bassam

Here's a tip from Barbara Walter's dated but charming self help book "How to talk to absolutely anybody": People are most interested in themselves, so if you keep bringing them out, they will think you're a good conversationalist. Barbara Walters probably also has good tips on how to make people cry.

digikit

@Zach Everson: Oh, good one.

infinitysnake

@snowmentality: I defciniotely feel your pain, having been to waay too many nerd parties where recounting past games dominated the conversation for hours. Worse when they've been drinking, and think they have to recreate funny things they said/did, accents and all.

Worse, the wives are always talking about their last cruise or some awful upcoming makeup/candle/tupperware/lingerie sales party. :-(

infinitysnake

Also, no matter who you are (family or not), I do not care about your child or any of the banal minutiae of it's life. Please save these stories for others with children!! Your kid maybe be the center of your world, but it's not the center of mine by a long shot.

I have stopped speaking to several people because they could no longer speak about anything that wasn't related to their child.

radleyas

not in agreement with this at all. there isn't much to add except the obvious: it's all perception. just because you find it boring doesn't mean i will, vice versa.

Collaboratory

How your fantasy football team is doing.

Zach Everson

Anyone telling me a story about the things that they used to do/still do with people I don't know and will never know.

For example:

I was making pizza with my Stepdad a few days ago. He went into this long winded explanation about how it absolutely had to be done. He caps it with "that's how WE always did it". I said who's "WE"? Apparently, it was folks he worked with 25 years ago in a pizza restaurant about 2500 miles away from here. He then proceded to tell me of all there adventures.

Argh.

I will never meet these people. I don't care about these people. These people bore me to tears.

Please make the things you say relevant!

PS: His pizza was awful. I had to remake the crust myself.

radleyas

Maybe I'm totally old-skool, but I was taught that only a bore is bored. Seems true; first off, any conversation, even about a subject that is not your cup of tea, is malleable. You can make it into something you can work with. Or, if the rotten bore is insistent upon being one, you can learn what paradigms make that person tick...people stuck in ruts are typically easy to figure out. Start plotting your world-domination starting with the bores. ;o) Lastly, if you are a sparkling conversationalist with whom there is never a boring moment, you will attract similar, and the bores will fade into the background...you're alpha, they're not. If something boring rises up in such company, the results can be amusing.

Keter

… seems like you have to have s o m e fairly specific notions you want to share to even start blogging. As Gina noted, "in general" there are many topics that will immediately and severely limit your readership. I have to agree … your last lucid dream probably means little to you … it means nothing to me. The list of non-starters for blogging is endless, boring, and would probably make meat for starting a blog!!

pocketpicker

Boredom doesn't come from the speaker - it is a choice of the the person that is on the receiving end. I love the thought that you are bored only if you are a boring person. Even in the most "boring" conversations or activities, I like to take it as a challenge on how not to let myself get bored (which sometimes involves leaving the room).

gforster

Infinitysnake beat me: Detailed recounting of the plot of your Dungeons and Dragons (or other role-playing) game. It's only interesting to you and possibly to the others who are playing. And I say this as a nerd who has absolutely nothing against D&D. I just don't want to hear about your game. I do not care how the battle went between your party and the trolls in the dungeon. I do not care what political drama is going on between the elf king and the dwarf king.

Do you think I hung out with too many nerds in college, that this is my first thought on boring conversations?

snowmentality

Your job. Unless your job is particularly cool (and even that mostly just makes me hate my job) or you are talking to people from the same industry, it's a topic to avoid.

I had a girlfriend once who would tell stories from her job as a customs broker. I had to explain to her that stories about tariff codes were not good party conversation.

Spamwich

Can we please add discussing details of animals' lives to the list? I'm often shocked to find myself in a conversation with people who want to tell me about how their dog is afraid of the doorbell or how their cat flushes the toilet. Unless it's part of a scientific study, I really don't need to hear about the behavior of lower life forms.

electricrabbit

"i had a pair of aces in the hole, then on the flop two spades came up but no aces, so i checked and he raised, and i raised back, and on the river an ace came up, so i'm thinking but he raised again, so i'm thinking i've got three aces but he might be working on a flush and i need to pair up something else to get a full house."

i'm even boring myself.

mattyblue

I totally agree that being boring is more a result of failing to adjust to your audience than of violating set rules.

My pet peeve: Long, detailed descriptions of what the speaker perceives to be a totally awesome--nay, OSSSSSUM--band, when they know perfectly well that the listener doesn't share any interest in that genre of music.

MameDennis

Health and mechanical issues bore me- I don't think anybody wants to hear the blow by blow of anyone's sinus surgery or the steps they took to fix the copy machine.
Passive-agressive whining about others- I don't want to hear all the whiny shit you couldn't tell the people you're complaining about directly. That one especially, because my MIL lives with us, and she's just too "polite" to tell people they're offending her, so she'll wait until they're out of sight and tell everyone else...endlessly. Related: the unsolicited advice anyone gave anyone.

Also: what your raiding party did on WOW. I so don't care. Ditto second life or D&D games.

infinitysnake

Any continuous never-ending story...that's not a conversation, it's me listening to you rant. *yawn*

mdellinger

1. Anything you saw on TV unless it's pertinent news (like a fire engulfing an entire state or a terrorist bombing the world)

2. Anything that happened at work/school

3. Celebrity gossip

Here in Minnesota, we pretty much talk about two things to strangers: weather and traffic.

Jarick

Totally agreed on context-less references to people you don't know, as if you should know them.

Thinking about it, a one-sentence, totally wacky dream description can be funny. It's the long descriptions of a dream that is obviously a pointless trawl through someone's subconscious that suck.

Though I am always interested to hear about dreams that *I'M* in.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor

A friend of mine is famous for telling boring stories. Two of the worst: His accounts of the trials and tribulations of his fish tank. How well the corn in his garden is growing, and how it's fine that it's not so tall yet because he planted it late, but next year .... blah blah blah. --

A few other bad ones that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

Recounting funny stories that 'you had to be there' to get.

Telling me all about your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Explaining anything if you are going to begin with the phrase "Only because ..." If you're using "Only because ..." you probably don't really need to share your reasoning.

The tale of your latest YouTube discovery. Send me the link, don't talk about it.

theo

I would add: Your workout routine.

rdm24

I disagree with the moratorium on dreams - you just have to know when to quit. I have wacky dreams all the time, and they can be summed up in a sentence. Like, if the conversation has swerved to celebrity gossip, I might say "Well, Tom Hanks was rude to me in a dream last night - I wanted to join his volleyball game, but he said no way! And he seems so nice on TV. What a jerk." I refuse to believe that's boring.

I definitely agree with the comment about talking about people no one else knows. Especially when you just drop names with no indication of who the people are. Your boss? Your sister? Your hairdresser? Bah, I don't care.

pensivefrog

Over promotion of the GTD system. OOOOOHHHH SNAP!

Cooper

Umm...so, if you start listing things that are boring to listen to, and if people start following them, it won't be long before there's nothing to talk about.

Topics don't make people boring: they're boring of their own accord.

noftheta

I take issue with "The route you took to get here" being off limits, at least in NYC. Commute time in the city is the great equalizer; everyone loves to bitch about how how long it takes him to get from where he lives to where he works. While this kind of conversation isn't, of course, engrossing in the long term, it breaks the ice pretty well.

boone

The topics in this article are kinda specific. Most of them distill down to expert or particular knowledge. What I would personally really like to see is a list of universally interesting issues or ways to brighten up potentially boring subjects.

dennyabraham

This is ripe for enumerating annoyances! I'll bite:

Conversations that start "Do you know what _____?" For example, "Do you know what I did last night?" No. And right now, I'm inclined to think it's as exciting as this story telling

Conversations that have "What do you think happened next?" in them. I think the next thing that happens is that I yawn.

MrCurious

I'd want to add any discussion on why linux-distro xx is better than distro yy. Most people don't care and even those who do care get bored after the first argument.

To me however #1 was a bummer. I always thought that was a winner for sure, since I have a tendency to have rather crazy dreams. I probably needed that wakeup call...

hufse

My very least favorite topic: detail descriptions of what people who you don't know are doing. Especially in the form of gossip. E.g.: "So Sarah said that Tom said that Julie had been looking at my Friendster profile..." Ugh.

designmartini

Dreams can be quite interesting. You can even make movies out of them.
[en.wikipedia.org]
I think the reason when many people tell about their dreams, they don't remember their dream very well, so when we ask questions, they answer 'uhm... I'm not sure...'

revil

The dream one is spot on. There is nothing more boring than listening to someones dream. Its like looking through someones photos, if it doesn't involve me or sex, I don't really care.

2-7offsuit

Doesn't it take a special type of geeky person to daily read a blog and even comment?? Are we the best group to ask this question? ;)

That being said, if I start talking to someone about how I've been playing with Ubuntu or customizing my WM phone, I can usually see their eyes glaze over and try and change the subject. I really like #7. I have a brother-in-law who will literally spend 30 minutes reciting funny parts of movies. To all Lifehackers, this is LAME...even if its Fletch.

Bittermormon

I agree. Let me not talk about things I enjoy, have experienced or have first hand knowledge of. It'll be much more exciting for my conversation partners to hear me pontificate on the relative importance of the Ming dynasty on the inherent wealth of lower income Chinese families as it pertains to the secular occlusion of the rising hip hop culture. I have no idea what that means or even if it makes sense...but at least it's not on the list.

taz20075

Tales of drunken stupidity and tech talk with civilians are both excellent additions to this list.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor

@Ruthven: Agreed, but that goes without saying! I took the post as general rules for general audiences, not your golf buddy or fellow wine enthusiast. :)

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker Editor

I have to agree with Rethven but the truth is many individuals are not mature enough to 'know' their audience. For example, we have a colleague who whines ALL THE TIME about others. How others are stupid, messed up something at work or lack language skills and blah, blah, blah. So what bores me here, his whining...
Another one, who loves to get drunk. Sadly, he fails to understand that we are not at all interested in his drunken stories.

Mindstyle

Any computer talk around non-techie or in non-techie environments can be a sure fire conversation killer.

Also, any description of online activities for the sake of the activity instead of the information gleaned from it - especially inclusive of online gaming.

Insomnic

This is utterly stupid. This depends entirely on who you're talking to. Your golf buddy will certainly be interested in your last golf game. A fellow oenophile will want to hear about additions to your cellar. Lots of people enjoy talking with others about movies they've just seen.

The only real way to avoid being a bore is to know your audience. Making a rule to always avoid certain topics is asinine.

Ruthven

Any kind of business speak. When I hear my boss ramble off all these generic office talk sentences I want to go play in traffic. Also, maybe not totally related to boring, but when an attractive girl you are flirting with for 20 minutes casually mentions her boyfriend. BORING!

MJDeviant

See, the thing is I like to hear about meals at nice restaurants and about interesting wines. Horses for courses, guys, y'know?

Adam

I'm a big sports fan, but even I get tired of hearing about people's fantasy football maneuvers.

bbeagle

Dreams definitely deserve to be at the top of the list. Dreams are usually random, nonsensical, and pointless, so they generally don't end up being very exciting stories.

My additions:
- Accounts of your recent minor health problems.
- Detailed descriptions of what you're doing at work/school.

burnmp3s

How great your Mac/Prius/iPod is.

What you found in the bin when you took the trash out, unless it was a live baby alligator.

Any shopping experiance that didn't result in loot for me.

junyo

I guess I don't agree with the dreams one. I dig hearing about peoples crazy dreams. And I am a wine enthusiast so that is not a bore for me. The rest are true for sure. Also, I would add "what someone's spouse did". And what someone thinks about last nights "dancing with the stars" or any TV show for that matter.

mysticgeek.htg

My worst experience: hearing full report of an RPG session, especially the live action RPGs (those funky week-ends in the cold, dressed up as elves or knights...) *über-yawn*

wormz

I don't want to hear a detailed description of your job. Just give me a thumbnail sketch. If I don't ask any questions that means I'm not interested.

Ssscorpion

Extensive gushing or complaining about your significant other. I get it already! There are some high school girls who would really get into this conversation, go find them!

avantreese

If I didn't hear the story on NPR, I don't want to hear it from you...

And unless you're my wife, I don't want to hear details of kids' sleeping schedules (even that's a stretch)

mikenrvs

dreams are awesome. let me hear about 'em.

twins8791

@Spamwich:

I kinda disagree with this. If you don't have an interesting job to talk about, you are probably an uninteresting person all around.

rdm24

At work, conversations seem to revolve around food. "What'd you bring for lunch?" "This diet is killing me!" "I tried this new recepie last night and it was great!" "I made a taco salad out of canned beans and fritos!" "Try using dried cranberries on your salad for some zing!"

I find food to be such a dull topic in general because it rarely ever says anything about the person who is speaking. If someone tells you that her family has successfully made the transition to whole wheat bread... you haven't really gleaned all that much, you know? But if the person mentions how they just got the movie Fargo from NetFlix and they thought it was hysterical, you've learned something about how the person spends their spare time, their sense of humor, their comfort level with using online services...

I enjoy learning about how other people live and think, and you don't really get to that point by discussing food, or for that matter, the weather, golf, or children's sleep schedules.

courier12point5

@kekil: I agree that many of these topics sound interesting.

To me a topic becomes boring when I can't participate and the person just goes on and on and on without letting anyone else respond.

I am always interested in learning new things so I can listen to just about anything from your Bonsai tree growing to something that happened at the park with your dog.

RunnerGirl

- How I eat french fries through my nose.
- How I can eat french fries through your nose.
- Why I like playing an A minor chord on a guitar but not on an accordion.
- Explicit details of my one night stand with three women.
- Why I love Carol Channing.
- The day I was celibate.
- How to remove soil stains from underwear.

iain010100

What's not boring? "This one time at band camp..."

cv

A description of a vacation you took.

tombest610

I have to disagree with dreams. Dreams are in fact very interesting and lucid dreams are awesome.

I talk about my dreams now and then and people are always interested =o

Joshiii-Kun

To elaborate on NYX210's words:

When you're using the words "I", "me", or "mine" in a sentence, you're probably boring. Use any of them a couple of times in a paragraph and you certainly are. My dream is boring, yours, however, is fascinating...

Length is generally boring. Brief, but acute observations impart you with greater IQ.

Similar interests (golf, wine, etc.) can enjoy subtleties and contrasts, so more latitude is allowed, but don't expect outsiders to agree.

dps

Your pets! Last weekend I was stuck with an aunt who truly believes she knows what her dogs are thinking.
I don't mind hearing a cute story or two, but several hours spent hearing about three dogs you've never even met--that's boring! Made my old crusty law school professors seem downright entertaining by comparison...
If you have nothing more interesting to discuss than your animals, life took a wrong turn somewhere!

digitalheritage

@COURIER12POINT5: Just another example of how wildly different people's experiences can be with one topic of conversation--I find that how people relate to their food and the passion or disinterest they show about food to be very interesting and informative. I've learned not only recipes, but family histories/anecdotes, discussed not only organic produce, but how people struggle with prioritizing and understanding their own values about food (eg, vegetarian vs flexitarian, local vs organic).

I can find a reason to be mildly interested or curious about most subjects, so long as the other person takes a breath now and then and shows some awareness of whether I'm still engaged in the conversation.

Oh, and one more vote for other people's dreams being good conversation!

artg33k

My problem is not hearing stories about other people, it's that the person telling the story spends 10 minutes trying to remember names -- I don't know them, so I don't care what their names are! (Plus, since I don't know the people, their names are irrelevant anyway.)

And this is more aggravating than boring, but unless I know and love your child, please don't put him on the phone with me!

JonBobFrog