“As a sociolinguist, I want to know how cultural differences affect the ways people talk and listen. My research method, inspired by the work of Robin Lakoff and John Gumperz of the University of California at Berkeley, is sociolinguistic microanalysis. I tape-record and transcribe naturally occurring conversations.”

American author and linguist

Deborah Tannen is an American author and linguist, associated with Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is best known for You Just Don't Understand, and has 105 quotes on the site. She has also served as a McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University. Her work and academic roles place her in the study of language and communication, especially the ways people understand one another.