Neutral-ish words like “Uh huh”, “ok”, and “sure” can sometimes sound like they mean “this is boring and I want you to stop talking about it”.
For example:
- Matilda: My cat just had kittens! They are adorable!
- Shira: Uh huh
This could sound to Matilda like Shira means “I’m annoyed that you’re talking about your cats and would like you to stop.”
If Shira actually wants to listen to Matilda talk about the cats but isn’t sure what to say, repeating part of what Matilda said might be a better option, eg:
- Matilda: My cat just had kittens! They are adorable!
- Shira: Your cat had kittens?!
- Matilda: Yes, she did. Last week.
Another option is to say explicitly that you want to hear about it, eg:
- Matilda: My cat just had kittens! They are adorable!
- Shira: Tell me about your adorable new kittens?
This isn’t an exhaustive list; there are any number of other examples in both directions. But if you’re saying things that you think are neutral and it seems to result in other people ending the conversation a lot, it’s worth considering whether you’re inadvertently sending off linguistic signals that you’re bored.