--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Their talk was endless, compulsive, and…" description: "\"Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English language after having been hashed over by nuclear..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg" --- # Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent… ![“Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English language after having been hashed over by nuclear war survivors for a few hundred years.” quote by Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg) > “Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English language after having been hashed over by nuclear war survivors for a few hundred years.” [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of modern discourse that feels overrun, fragmented, and decayed, likened to a language surviving nuclear devastation. **In simple terms:** Language feels broken and overloaded. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and brevity in communication. Themes communication culture decay Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - media analysis - online discussions Key Concepts postmodernism media saturation linguistic entropy Questions to Reflect On - How does media overload affect understanding? - What can restore meaning in dialogue? A Different Perspective The metaphor may exaggerate normal conversational complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Nuclear war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-war/) [Survivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survivor/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Maybe people with weird haircuts are like structures that become interesting only after being wrecked - Florida ranch houses half-fallen into sinkholes; bankrupt malls;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/maybe-people-with-weird-haircuts-are-like-structures-that-become/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Television is a great leveler. You always end up sounding like the people who ask the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/television-is-a-great-leveler-you-always-end-up-sounding-like-the/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Stylistically, we're trying to push things in different ways, but it always comes out sounding like Tool no matter what we're trying to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-carey/stylistically-we-re-trying-to-push-things-in-different-ways-but-it/) [Danny Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-carey/) > [I don't find the business easy. The moment you start talking about the business, you start sounding like someone in Spinal Tap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wyatt/i-don-t-find-the-business-easy-the-moment-you-start-talking-about-the/) [Robert Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wyatt/) > [“This is sounding like too much work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormie-omartian/this-is-sounding-like-too-much-work/) [Stormie Omartian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormie-omartian/) > [The problem with taking amps to a shop is that they come back sounding like another amp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-ray-vaughan/the-problem-with-taking-amps-to-a-shop-is-that-they-come-back/) [Stevie Ray Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-ray-vaughan/) > [I don't try to worry about sounding like anybody because I know I have my own tone, my own sound. It's just about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ro-james/i-don-t-try-to-worry-about-sounding-like-anybody-because-i-know-i/) [Ro James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ro-james/) > [“Sorry, sometimes when I try to rhyme I end up sounding like Yoda.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/sorry-sometimes-when-i-try-to-rhyme-i-end-up-sounding-like-yoda/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“I'm a blogger?" It comes out sounding like a question. Like I have no clue what I am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riley-sager/i-m-a-blogger-it-comes-out-sounding-like-a-question-like-i-have-no/) [Riley Sager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riley-sager/) > [I write almost everything on my albums, all the hooks etc, but I can't sing them as I hear them in my head. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/illy/i-write-almost-everything-on-my-albums-all-the-hooks-etc-but-i-can-t/) Illy > [Hip-hop is getting to the point now where they are going to start sounding like Al Jarreau or Bobby McFerrin or some of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clinton/hip-hop-is-getting-to-the-point-now-where-they-are-going-to-start/) [George Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clinton/) > [I can't seem to fathom that the things important to me are not important to other people as well, and so I come off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/i-can-t-seem-to-fathom-that-the-things-important-to-me-are-not/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [Some things don't wind up sounding like you'd expect, which is just as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-frith/some-things-don-t-wind-up-sounding-like-you-d-expect-which-is-just-as/) [Fred Frith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-frith/) > [I always come across sounding like I hate my children. I actually love them very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-bowen/i-always-come-across-sounding-like-i-hate-my-children-i-actually-love/) [Julie Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-bowen/) > [When people start writing songs for award shows, there's a very limited palette you can use. You end up not sounding like you. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-dirnt/when-people-start-writing-songs-for-award-shows-there-s-a-very/) [Mike Dirnt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-dirnt/) ## More by Douglas Coupland > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The future and eternity are two entirely different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/the-future-and-eternity-are-two-entirely-different-things/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Do you remember how you felt at seventeen? I do and I don't (...) 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Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [I'm not a fan of endless mystery in storytelling - I like to know where the mythology's going; I like to get there in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kripke/i-m-not-a-fan-of-endless-mystery-in-storytelling-i-like-to-know-where/) [Eric Kripke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kripke/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-heaven-we-understand-a-state-of-happiness-infinite-in-degree-and/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [This is the sacrifice: the endless possibility that is offered up on the altar of the form...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/this-is-the-sacrifice-the-endless-possibility-that-is-offered-up-on/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Like the sea itself, the unconscious yields an endless and self-replenishing abundance of creatures, a wealth beyond our fathoming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/like-the-sea-itself-the-unconscious-yields-an-endless-and-self/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I'm saying that the domain of poetry includes both oral & written forms, that poetry goes back to a pre-literate situation & would survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-rothenberg/i-m-saying-that-the-domain-of-poetry-includes-both-oral-written-forms/) Jerome Rothenberg > [Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who have flourished their allotted time; otherwise, the creative powers of genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/language-gradually-varies-and-with-it-fade-away-the-writings-of/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-debt-immense-of-endless-gratitude-so-burthensome-still-paying/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. 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Endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lawlor/we-are-all-pilgrims-on-an-elusive-and-endless-road-despite-our/) [Anthony Lawlor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lawlor/) Browse all 1,867 Endless quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English language after having been hashed over by nuclear war survivors for a few hundred years.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Douglas Coupland" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-indulgent-sometimes-sounding/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Endless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-indulgent-sometimes-sounding/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/douglas-coupland-305_endless_their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-in_1289849.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English…” — Douglas Coupland", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Douglas Coupland", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Their talk was endless, compulsive, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-indulgent-sometimes-sounding/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/their-talk-was-endless-compulsive-and-indulgent-sometimes-sounding/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```