Time and Words

 

The average person speaks conversationally at a rate of 120 - 160 words a minute.

That's between 7,200 and 9,600 words in an hour, if one was to speak non-stop.

If one were to split the time with one other person, that would be 3,600 - 4,800 words exchanged, provided there were no pauses or silences, meaningful or otherwise.

A group of four? About 1,800 words. Maybe fewer if the four were gathered for dinner or canasta. Fewer still if alcohol was involved.

This got me reflecting on how I choose to spend those words. I don't think I use as much forethought in my speech as I do in choosing what I eat or read. I would imagine I waste a lot of time and words.

I suspect I'm not alone. The number of words in the cybersphere alone is daunting. Add to that the wooing, coaxing, scolding and scheming going on in F2F exchanges and the number becomes incalculable.

Maybe all of these words are by-products of the attention economy -- where being heard, regardless of the message, is the goal. Dunno.

Wouldn't it be something if we were all allotted a set number of words to speak in a 24-hour period and going over would mean having to pay a word waste tax?

I wonder if we would be more careful in what we say and to whom?