phatic

American  

[fat-ik] / ˈfæt ɪk /

adjective

1. denoting speech used to express or create an atmosphere of shared feelings, goodwill, or sociability rather than to impart information.

   phatic communion.

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phatic British  

/ ˈfætɪk /

adjective

1. (of speech, esp of conversational phrases) used to establish social contact and to express sociability rather than specific meaning

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Etymology

Origin of phatic

1923; probably < Greek phat ( ós ) spoken, capable of being spoken (verbid of phánai to speak; cf. prophet) + -ic; coined (in phrase phatic communion ) by Bronislaw Malinowski

Explanation

If you’ve ever exchanged small talk with the cashier when checking out at a store, you’ve engaged in phatic communion. He says, "Hi, how are you?" and you say, "Great. Yourself?" and he replies, "Good. Hot out there today, isn’t it?" Phatic utterances are not intended to tell the other person anything, get information from them, or issue a command. They’re just to share goodwill, to keep the social "wheels" turning smoothly and keep things from being stiff and awkward — like in an elevator where nobody talks for 17 floors. Often they're just the short remarks like "Serious?" or "Oh, my gosh!" that you insert when somebody’s talking to you, to let them know you’re listening with interest. Phatic comes from Greek phatos, meaning "spoken."

Example Sentences

Unfortunately, they seem to have mastered all too well the arts of phatic speech and bromides.

From Slate • Dec. 9, 2021

If we hope to take climate change seriously, we need, I think, to get past the phatic banality of weather.

From Slate • Apr. 29, 2016

Our language may sound less communicative than chirpy: not in the sense of cheerful, but rather like the phatic calls of birds, simply emphasizing that we are still here to do the telling.

From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2012

Or is it perhaps the indication of an actual pathology, a void that has become normalised by phatic online interaction with strangers?

From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2012

Many Western ears will find it hard to tell whether Merwin is being vatic or phatic.

From Time Magazine Archive