American Storylines

American Storylines

We’re Forgetting How to Talk to Strangers

And why it matters

Daniel Cox's avatar
Daniel Cox
Jul 09, 2026
∙ Paid

Americans are talking less than we used to. The only species that uses language to communicate, humans are becoming more laconic. A new study found that between 2005 and 2019, Americans spoke “330 fewer words spoken per day for each year during that time period” according to one of the authors. We went from speaking approximately 16,600 words each day t…

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