(You can manually specify “I’m curious about X [I don’t mean to be asking you about it, just mentioning that I’m curious about it, no pressure if you don’t want to go into it.]”. But, that is indeed a clunkier statement, and probably defeats the point of you being able to casually mention it in the first place.)
I am somewhat curious what you’re hoping to get out of being able to say things like “I’m curious about X” if it’s not intended as a passive request. I think the answers here of how to communicate across cultures will depend a lot on what specific thing you’re trying to communicate and why and how (and then covering that with a variety of patches, which are specific to the topic in question)
It might be a passive request, I’m not actually sure… I’d think of it more like an invitation, which you are free to decline. Although OFC, declining an invitation does send a message whether you like it or not *shrug.
> But, that is indeed a clunkier statement, and probably defeats the point of you being able to casually mention it in the first place.)
Also like, if you’re in something like guess culture, and someone tells you “I’m just telling you this with no expectation,” they will still be trying to guess what you may want from that.
(You can manually specify “I’m curious about X [I don’t mean to be asking you about it, just mentioning that I’m curious about it, no pressure if you don’t want to go into it.]”. But, that is indeed a clunkier statement, and probably defeats the point of you being able to casually mention it in the first place.)
I am somewhat curious what you’re hoping to get out of being able to say things like “I’m curious about X” if it’s not intended as a passive request. I think the answers here of how to communicate across cultures will depend a lot on what specific thing you’re trying to communicate and why and how (and then covering that with a variety of patches, which are specific to the topic in question)
I once heard someone say, “I’m curious about X, but only want to ask you about it if you want to talk about it” and thought that seemed very skillful.
It might be a passive request, I’m not actually sure… I’d think of it more like an invitation, which you are free to decline. Although OFC, declining an invitation does send a message whether you like it or not *shrug.
> But, that is indeed a clunkier statement, and probably defeats the point of you being able to casually mention it in the first place.)
Also like, if you’re in something like guess culture, and someone tells you “I’m just telling you this with no expectation,” they will still be trying to guess what you may want from that.