one of several tricks should you want to severely sink my opinion of you in seconds: the filler laugh. most common among the bland/blond former sorority girl types trying to make polite conversation when in fact they have nothing much to say (or offer in general, i’m afraid), this particular type of laugh seems to invariably occur when a thin topical thread reaches its end. an example might be the space following the standard ‘just relaxing’ response to the subject’s formulaic inquiry regarding a colleague’s weekend activities, in which the subject then offers a chipper ‘yeah….’ followed by vacant laughter.

the offense lies not in the laughter itself but in its use in such an unfunny context, betraying the subject’s lack of insight or wit combined with her desire to seem affable and fun with a minimum of creative effort. the sound of this type of laugh tends to start stronger than warranted as if trying to force humor into a flat conversation, and then trail off as the weak conversation clearly rejects the attempted transfusion. employed successfully by many when among others who resort to such tactics, those of us who know better can’t help but roll our eyes and sigh when overhearing this telltale symptom of what can only be at essence a very boring person.

found most often in dull coworkers or service industry professionals, this is one of a few surefire ways to ensure we won’t be talking very long or often, should you desire to dodge any future interactions.