What is 'word salad'? (Glossary of Narcissistic Relationships)

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[yivmaiden]

"Word salad" actually sounds healthy and wholesome. I think the correct description for this behavior should be "verbal diarrhea".

[Suzu]

Narcissists cannot answer a direct question without deflection, word salad, gaslighting, is truly do not understand these kind of people.

[lexi]

“How DARE you bring up and express your hurt at my behavior when this COMPLETELY UNRELATED thing is going on in my life!!”

[tjdjultima]

Legend has it that tax bill is still unpaid

[Lu-yscw]

After a while, you learn not to try to have a discussion with them about something they do not want to address. You become silent.

[decapitatedfairy]

My ex used to use word salad intensely when I would bring up things I didn’t like that he was doing, I would end up having to defend myself for things completely off topic that made no sense, the conversation would twist SO much that I would end up not knowing what I had said in the first place or what the previous topic was, he would then gaslight me by saying, “see you’re going crazy, there’s something not right with you, you always forget what you’ve said, it’s really weird” . I felt like I couldn’t even trust my own reality, it was hard!! Now I can see what was actually happening

[paulad.]

I once read a comment in a chatroom that reminds me of this video, "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit." Seems to apply here.

[mandolaa]

She is so funny when she's pretending to be the narc!!😂 Dr. Ramani you are such a gem❣️

[melissadaye]

My ex husband would deflect this way. I used to write down on a piece of paper what I wanted to talk about, just so when he would go off on his tirades, I could stay focused and keep on track! Boy it pissed him off when I kept on track and kept pressing him or asking the same damn thing! 😈

[GoogleIsAPieceOfShit]

The whole loopy conversation was about getting out of HIS responsibility.

[annamacm]

Once (and only once) I recorded someone’s word salad in response to something I said. I played them back the recoding two days later and asked them to help me understand what they meant. They were unable to understand the recording and admitted it.. It was a glorious moment... and probably won’t ever happen again. But I’ll treasure it forever 😉

[penelopelambson]

I’ve always called this tactic “ derailing” a conversation.
We used to play a silly game around this.
One person makes a statement such as “ The sky is very blue today.” The other person replies with a totally unrelated statement such as “ Shoes come in all sizes.” The “ conversation “ continues, the game being to see just how absurd the whole exchange can become.
One day someone genuinely did “ word salad” with me (this was long before I knew this term or what it represented) and I was so surprised that he knew our family game. So I responded back just as goofy, joining in the “fun”. He didn’t have a clue what to do, and it took me a few minutes of dialogue before I realized what was going on. My response had thrown him off HIS game and made him more confused than I was.
Turn it back on them sometime. It’s funny to watch their face when their salad gets thrown in it.

[TheAntisocialSocialitePodcast]

That's exactly how narcissists respond when you ask a very basic, direct question. Pure incomprehensible 🥗🥗🥗.

[cloisterene]

Often when I hear narcissistic word salads, they're being overly-dramatic and I always wondered why the heck do they constantly blow every little problem completely out of proportion. Then one day I woke up and realized it's their way of projecting their own guilt onto anyone who tries to keep them honest or somehow mistakes them for an honest person. Bottom line is that they're lazy/irresponsible and they don't want anyone to know it.

[tammymasson]

I love her statement, "Basically narcissists just make messes, and leave other people to sort them out." My mother exactly. Oh, the messes!!!😖😵

[sweeti]

I am literally LOL, your example was so on point. Makes you feel like you're going crazy until you realize what's really going on. They go all the way around the block like 10 times without ever addressing the actual situation. Thanks for this!

[kilbyhanna]

These kind of exchanges left me so confused, I literally felt like I was having an out of body experience.

[tiffanyjohnson]

Uh I hate this. “I do everything I can!” While doing the bare minimum.

[amandacausey]

It leaves people feeling unsettled and unstable, anxiety ridden with no real concrete answers. It leads to nowhere good.

[kiakai]

The "what aboutism" is what they come up with a lot... what about your mom when she... or what about your best friend when she did this to you.
It is like they use the flaws of others to justify their behavior and distract you from what you actually asked while they word-salad the life out of you.