I like to give a little thought to the words that I speak.  The conversational gap timing may be the reason I never seem to get a turn to speak in some conversations.<p>Sometimes, when speaking with the spouse, I sense a &quot;your turn to speak&quot; gap, but by the time I actually start speaking, I apparently missed my turn, and I get dinged for interrupting the continuation.  Then, later, I get double-dinged for not being communicative enough.<p>I never quite got the hang of &quot;seizing the conch&quot; (as in <i>_Lord of the Flies_</i>) and holding onto it with a continuous stream of priority-holding conversational nulls while my brain works out what I actually want to say next.  I&#x27;ll sometimes pause to take a breath and before I am able to resume, someone else jumps in.<p>So I&#x27;d love it if I had a cultural conversation timeout even just 15 seconds long.  I might actually get to talk <i>and</i> finish a line of thought without someone else trampling over me.<p>Edit (sibling post): So maybe I should try to get some Finnish friends, then?  But it&#x27;s been a while since I&#x27;ve been to Minnesota or da Yoop, doncha know.