“Is that, by any chance, an invitation?”: The Revelation and Resolution of Trouble in Casual Conversations through Teasing

Abstract

This study explores how teasing is utilized in dealing with trouble that arises in storytelling and in invitation sequences within casual conversations among friends. Adopting the method of conversation analysis, cases in which a speaker fails to convey the punchline in a funny story or to construct a recognizable action of invitation are examined. The results suggest that teasing occurs in such sequential environments and participants use it to deal with interactional trouble. Subsequent to employing teasing, participants were seen to resolve trouble by reviewing their prior interactions and assessing their failures. The analysis demonstrated that teasing is employed as a strategy to reveal interactional trouble and resolve ongoing interactions.