While the study of delivering bad news is typically
done in contexts with more serious consequences,
we see no less interesting strategies in casual
conversations like the one between Megan and
Daniel. Also, while we analyze the delivery of
bad news through Megan’s strategies, this study
additionally shows how Daniel, the recipient of bad
news, also participates in identity shaping. In other
words, the delivery of bad news is an interactional
achievement, not a simple delivery of information.
When people talk to others about their troubles,
they sometimes use what Jefferson (1984)
calls a “buffer topic” in the form of a joke or
anecdote associated with the trouble being told
in order to lighten the situation. Criticism can