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Category Archives: Reactions

Get Your Goat

I haven’t heard this expression – get your goat – for a while and since writing this blog I have become intrigued with such idioms. This one typically refers to the reaction when someone does something that provokes, infuriates, or … Continue reading

Posted in Conflict Coaching, Metaphors, Reactions | 2 Comments

You Could Cut the Air with a Knife

Have you ever heard this idiom – ‘you could cut the air with a knife’? Generally-speaking, it is a term that describes a tense situation between people and, at times, there is a sense of foreboding that something unpleasant is … Continue reading

Posted in Conflict Coaching, Impact, Reactions | Leave a comment

The Silent Treatment

One of the ways that some people manage conflict is by using the ‘silent treatment’. This expression refers to “Maintenance of aloof silence toward another as an expression of one’s anger or disapproval”. The same source says this phrase is … Continue reading

Posted in Choice in Conflict, Conflict Coaching, Conflict Management Styles, Reactions | Leave a comment

“I Wish I Hadn’t Said That”

There are times in our interpersonal conflicts that – after the fact – we state things like, “I wish I hadn’t said that”. This is along the lines of “If I had it to do over”. It is often a … Continue reading

Posted in Conflict Coaching, Emotions in Conflict, Reactions | 4 Comments

Stew in Your Own Juices

The other day a colleague (I’ll call her Janet) told me she and a co-worker (I’ll call him David) had a heated disagreement about a work matter. Janet went on to say that David called her a few hours after … Continue reading

Posted in Blame, Conflict Coaching, Metaphors, Reactions | 1 Comment