VERBAL TREATS are understood here as units of interaction exchanged by interlocutors and lasting not more than 2-4 minutes.
They are derived from Erich Berne’s notion of strokes referring to simplest units of interpersonal transactions (which take place when, for example, people exchange ‘Hello’ or ‘Nice to see you’ when seeing each other). Verbal treats differ from strokes on four levels:
their STATUS
verbal treats are OPTIONAL (as opposed to strokes, which are more obligatory). When a person delivers a verbal treat, you can, but you do not have to, present yours in return
their PRESENCE
verbal treats are EXPLICIT (as opposed to implicit strokes). They are often preceded by introductory sentences such as “I’ll tell you a story” or “I’ve heard a very nice joke recently”
their LENGTH
solid verbal treats take MINUTES (as opposed to strokes lasting seconds). As a result, they are paid lots of attention to as they are not automatic but, instead, they are subject to attention
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their BOUNDARIES
the frames of verbal treats are more STRUCTURAL (as opposed to the functional/ semantic boundaries of strokes). They take the form of entire texts with complete sentences