I need to tell you a funny story.
A couple of weeks ago, I met with a new client for the first time.
Let's call him JJ—because he's one cool dude.
We talked about his background in engineering and his motivation to take additional English for Engineers classes. He told me that his technical English was actually sufficient:
"I've been to the States to tech conventions, and I was OK talking to other engineers. I had absolutely no problems discussing technical matters. But I definitely need to learn how to do Trash Talk."
There it was—trash talk. I thought, "Why does he wanna learn how to talk trash? Does he actually know what talking trash means? Does he eventually mean 'tech talk', but the audio connection's bad?"
Finally, it was dawning on me, and I asked him, "JJ, when you say trash talk, do you eventually mean small talk?"
"Yes! Small Talk! That's the word I was looking for!"
From now on, I'll officially refer to small talk as trash talk.
Wondering what he really wanted me to teach him?
That's simple: English idioms, expressions, and colloquialisms.
Want to feel confident with the small talk (or "trash talk") too?
Book a free 15-minute call and let's chat about it.
FAQ Block
Small talk means casual, friendly conversation, for example chatting about the weather or weekend plans. Trash talk means insulting or provocative comments, often used in sports or competition. The two phrases sound similar but mean completely different things.
Many engineers are confident discussing technical topics in English but feel less prepared for casual conversation. This is usually a vocabulary and idiom gap, not a grammar problem.
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