On an Actual Virtual Servo-Mechanism for Guessing Bad News: A Single Case Conjecture

A conversation analytic treatment of a single episode of talk-in-interaction is used to sketch a mechanism for steering recipients of bad news to better guesses of what the news is. The account of the mechanism makes use of the notion of “preferred/dispreferred response” and distinguishes different usages of that notion. The results of the exploration are used to recommend an approach to specialized contexts in which bad news is communicated, as well as an approach to “specialized” talk more generally.