talking past
Conversational ships passing
Talking past describes communication where participants fail to engage with each other's actual points, instead addressing different aspects of a topic or operating from incompatible assumptions.
Two people talking past each other may exchange words without achieving understanding: They argued for an hour but were just talking past each other—she was discussing ethics while he focused on logistics.
The phrase implies mutual failure rather than one-sided misunderstanding.
- talking atSpeaking without dialogue
- deaf earsUnwillingness to hear
- pauseTemporary cessation of activity
- egocentrismViewing all through oneself
- tone deafCannot perceive pitch differences
miscommunication · selective attention · misunderstanding · lost in translation · cross purposes · different wavelengths · confirmation bias · language barriers · paraphrasing · brick wall · groupthink · incoherence · cognitive dissonance · framing effect · inattentiveness · sigh · conflict mediation · generational differences
- miscommunicationmix-up, mixed signals, confusion, mixed messages, crossed wires
- misunderstandingsmisunderstanding, misinterpretation, misconception, misreading, miscommunication
- incompatibilityoil and water, chalk and cheese, apples and oranges, mismatch, clash
- futile argumentscircular argument, beating dead horse, going in circles, dead end, lost cause
talking pastmeeting of minds
Mutual intellectual agreement
connecting · active listening · two-way communication · back-and-forth
talking pastmutual understanding
Shared agreement between parties
seeing eye to eye · finding common ground · bridging the gap · convergence · clicking
talk, talks, talked, talker, talkers, talkative, past, pasts