History Main / TalkAboutTheWeather

The ultimate in inconsequential, neutral talk: the subject matter is the weather. Usually fictionally to evade a more serious topic – out of dislike for it, especially the ElephantInTheLivingRoom, or because they might be overheard – or to depict characters as not knowing each other, or having nothing to say. May indicate a BanOnPolitics. Those who CannotSpitItOut often talk about the weather instead. It can also be the set-up for DispenseWithThePleasantries.

This trope may provoke serious talk about the weather, which is invariably treated as a ''faux pas'', even if provoked. (When the characters actually need to talk about important wather conditions, it falls outside this trope.)

* In ''Literature/TheMouseThatRoared'', the Grand Duchess discovers she can't even talk about the weather, since different parts of the duchy want different weather.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', whenever Quirell is questioned on the subject of his turban, he goes pink and starts talking about the weather. Hagrid also does this whenever touchy subjects are evoked, when he doesn't go mysteriously deaf.

** In ''Discworld/TheLastContinent'', Rincewind's default topic when talking to natives of Fourecks is to ask about the weather. What our favorite IneptMage hadn't quite figured out was that the "Terra Incognita" is locked in a pepetual drought, so innocent inquiries on when the last time it rained get him chased by angry mobs.

** In ''Literature/TheLastDragonslayer'', Jennifer mentions this among the things the wizards could have talked about on the way to the job, but didn't.

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "Literature/TimePatrol", Manse observes that talking about crops and weather in Dark Ages England is much like twentieth century Middle Western America.

* In Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Literature/{{Sunshine}}'', the person Sunshine comes the nearest to confiding the truth in is Yolanda, because when she talks about the weather or other chitchat, she not only doesn't ask what happened to her, but doesn't even seem to be suppressing the desire to.
* In Creator/HilariBell's Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries novel ''The Last Knight'', Sir Michael and the lady talk about horses -- which, the narrator notes, is what nobles do when farmers would talk about the weather, and townsmen taxes.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

This continues for some time til Ronee figures out something's wrong.

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Sheldon has a list of safe topics he and Amy can talk about when they're driving to the aquarium, and this is one of them. She convinces him to disregard the list and just say what's on his mind, but regrets it when he asks if she's had "coitus" with any of the men she's dated since they broke up.

* In ''Series/KimsConvenience'', Mr. Chin, Mr. Mehta and Mr. Kim are shocked by a flirty message the latter's received from a secret admirer in the convenience store's Google reviews, and they are all sent into a panic when Mrs. Kim walks in. Trying to act like nothing happened, Mr. Mehta starts talking about the weather. All he can muster, though, is, "The weather! My god! It's... everywhere."

* "So Much to Say" by Dave Matthews Band, describing suppressing emotional depth under meaningless smalltalk.

* One bit of EnemyChatter overheard in ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'' has one guard scolding the other for being distracted by falling snow, and the other replies he's [[FirstSnow never seen snow before.]] They go on to discuss where they're from and the kind of weather their hometowns get, giving you an ample opportunity to slip by unnoticed. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook Unless you want to be the asshole who killed a man right after he saw his first snowfall]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', as the rest of the Phantom Thieves are trying to bond with Futaba, Makoto proposes talking about food or the weather. While the latter would be a somewhat fitting topic, considering that Tokyo is in the middle of a heat wave, Futaba, being a shut-in, says that she doesn't know about the weather, since she hasn't been out much.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' managed to take even ''this'' trope up to eleven. When the boys are hit by Doof's Dull-And-Boring-Inator in "Phineas and Ferb Interrupted", Phineas goes on a minute long spiel about yes, how the weather is nice, although barometric readings would suggest otherwise. Did you know barometers have two scales? Of course, now you can simply look up the weather on the Internet, [[OverlyLongGag but then you wouldn't be able to calculate where the sun is in the meridian and...]]

* The Website/JollyRogerTelephoneCompany is a company that provides bots which are designed to waste the time of telemarketers. These bots will sometimes talk about the weather as a means of said time-wasting, as [[https://youtu.be/A-DubAMIZi8?t=265 heard here]], for example.

* Many British folk are a permanent example of this and many foreign and native observers have tried to rationalise their apparent obsession with the weather, to the point where anthropologists have subjected to serious study. It's true that that Britain itself [[UsefulNotes/BritishWeather is in a temperate climate with an active gulf stream leading to very changeable weather]], but there's also a general preference not to discuss personal matters ''or'' controversial ones ("politics, religion or [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} The Great Pumpkin]]") with strangers, if only because just about everything is SeriousBusiness to someone in Britain (as has been remarked, the two nationals pastimes of the British are talking about the weather and arguing) which doesn't leave you with many options. Basically when a British person complains about the weather, it's their way of stating either "I want to talk to you", or "I don't want to talk to you, but I have no choice."

* One bit of EnemyChatter overheard in ''VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent'' has one guard scolding the other for being distracted by falling snow, and the other replies he's [[FirstSnow never seen snow before.]] They go on to discuss where they're from and the kind of weather their hometowns get, giving you an ample opportunity to slip by unnoticed. [[WhatMeasureIsAMook Unless you want to be the asshole who killed a man right after he saw his first snowfall]].

-->'''Jim Braddock''': Joe, did you come all this way just to talk about the weather?

-->'''Bill Harmon''': Take your time, Mr. Benton. There's been a lot of weather for your daughter and me to talk about.

--> '''Joanna''': "Everything I say seems to make things worse. I'm trying not to irritate you."
--> '''[[{{Tsundere}} Leiningen]]''': "I noticed that. I find it irritating."

-->'''Mr Salzella''': Wind, glaciers, icicles -
-->'''Mr Bucket''': Not icicles!

--> "But look at that. Not much to say, is there? 'Hmm...looks like a vacuum today. And they predict more of the same for tomorrow.' You see the difficulty."

-->'''Martin:''' No. So, uh, good weather over there in Spokane?
-->'''Ronee:''' God, no. It rained the entire time. I basically just sat there and made boring small talk with my mother. God, I hate [[LampshadeHanging small talk]].
-->''(awkward pause)''
-->'''Martin:''' Oh, tell me. Rained here some, too.
-->This continues for some time til Ronee figures out something's wrong.

--> '''Lorelai''': Yeah, it was just awkward, and neither of us knew how to act.
--> '''Sookie''': I'm sure it seemed worse than it really was.
--> '''Lorelai''': Uh, no. We hit the weather in the first minute.
--> '''Sookie''': Well, it ''has'' been unseasonably warm...

--> '''Sheridan:''' Good. And when I see you next, if everything is set ... we'll talk about the weather.

--> '''Vyvyan:''' Well, if you like snow and being ''really'' cold, it's a nice day.

-->'''Wally''': ''HEY, HOW ABOUT THAT LOW-PRESSURE SYSTEM, HUH?''\\
'''Dogbert''': Good, but this time just say "weather".

-->'''Carrie''': She threw her leg over a fence like this-- ''(As she is swinging her leg over the chair, she sees Louise and hastily puts her leg down)''…and it rained all day!

-->'''Pidge''': I don't know what to talk about, how 'bout sports or the weather?

-->'''Cosmo''': I'm terrible at small talk! Ask me about the weather!
-->'''Timmy''': Uh, How's the Weather?
-->'''Cosmo''': Jeff! [shakes Timmy violently] See what I mean?!

--> '''Dr. Bliss:''' "We can keep it light. We can talk about the weather or sports, or your classmates. We can talk about... Arnold."
--> '''Helga:''' "ARNOLD!"

--> "Everybody is talking about Germany [the unification]. We're talking about the weather [global warming]."

* On the Internet, complaining about the weather in your area [[InternetBackdraft will most likely turn into]] MiseryPoker, with [[ValuesDissonance others from regions of worse weather chastising you for complaining about weather they consider everyday or paradise compared to what they have to deal with]].

* The Jolly Roger Telephone Co. is a company that provides bots which are designed to waste the time of telemarketers. These bots will sometimes talk about the weather as a means of said time-wasting, as [[https://youtu.be/A-DubAMIZi8?t=265 heard here]], for example.

* The Jolly Roger Telephone Co. is a company that provides bots which are designed to waste the of telemarketers. These bots will sometimes talk about the weather as a means of said time-wasting, as [[https://youtu.be/A-DubAMIZi8?t=265 heard here]], for example.

* In ''Series/KimsConvenience'', Mr. Chin, Mr. Mehta and Mr. Kim are shocked by a flirty message the latter's received from a secret admirer in the convenience store's Google reviews, and they are all sent into a panic when Mrs. Kim walks in. Trying to act like nothing happened, Mr. Mehta starts talking about the weather. All he can muster, though, is, "The weather! My god, it's everywhere!"

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', Alphys at one point rambles about how Undyne once called her to talk about the weather... before getting hit with the FridgeLogic that there is no weather in the Underground, so why was Undyne calling her? It's implied that Undyne [[ShipTease just wanted an excuse to talk to Alphys at all]], but Alphys has such a low opinion of herself that the implications fly right over her head. This doesn't prevent [[spoiler:Asgoree]] from playing the trope straight in the game's final chapter, trying to take both his and the player's minds off the impending fight to the death.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', Alphys at one point rambles about how Undyne once called her to talk about the weather... before getting hit with the FridgeLogic that there is no weather in the Underground, so why was Undyne calling her? It's implied that Undyne [[ShipTease just wanted an excuse to talk to Alphys at all]], but Alphys has such a low opinion of herself that the implications fly right over her head.

* A persistent stereotype about Winnepeg, Manitoba is that two Winnepeggers, no matter where in the world they meet, or how long it's been since either has been back home, will inevitably ask one another what the weather was like in Manitoba when they left[[note]]And then complain about how cold it was[[/note]].

This trope may provoke serious talk about the weather, which is invariably treated as a ''faux pax'', even if provoked. (When the characters actually need to talk about important wather conditions, it falls outside this trope.)

-> ''Let us compromise\\

And talk about the weather.''

'''Phil Connors:''' We may catch a break and that blizzard's gonna blow right by us. All of this moisture coming up out of the south by midday is probably gonna push on to the east of us and at high altitudes it's gonna crystallize and probably give us what we call snow. Probably will be some accumulation but here in Punxsutawney our high is gonna get up to about 30 today, teens tonight. Chance of precipitation about 20% today, 20% tomorrow. Did you want to [[SeriousBusiness talk about the weather]] or [[InvertedTrope were you just making chitchat]]?

* Creatpr/JasperFforde

** In ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'', the sisters feign this in order to LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone. Conveniently, their rapid-fire patter chorus about how beautifully blue the sky is and how it may pour tomorrow fades to background levels whenever Frederick and Mabel are singing.