When John Meets Mary

Informal Introductions Most introductions in English are informal. Formal introductions normally occur in business or professional contexts. Let’s say John sees Mary standing in line at the courthouse waiting to get his driver’s licenses renewed. John is behind Mary and the line they are standing in is very long. They might make what we call idle chatteri for a few minutes, but then John decides to introduce himself the Mary standing in front of him in line. They’ve already exchanged some idle chatter. John: By the way, my name is John Smith. Mary: Nice to meet you, I’m Mary Jones. John: I wish this line were shorter. Mary: Me too. I have to get back to work. John: Oh, where do you work? Mary: I work here in the courthouse. Up on the seventh floor. John: Really? Gosh, that’s convenient. I have to drive 25 miles to get here. I have to take a half day off work every year just to get my license renewed. Mary: Really? Well, I guess working in the same building does have its advantages. John: Sure does. Discussion: i Idle chatter means that several people talk amongst themselves about nothing in particular, such as the weather, politics, or sporting teams. The purpose of idle chatter is simply to break up the monotony and silence when people are forced to stand or sit in one place for an extended period of time waiting for something to happen, such as patients in a doctor’s office.