"Silence is the basis of speech; silence is broken to create speech and silence is created to close speech - an eternal cyclic process."

Above all, it is important to mention that the study made in this context cannot be seen as representative because the low number of participants cannot give a cross-section of the whole society. Nevertheless, this paper has tried to analyse and evaluate the meaning behind the silences and the unsaid.

What do people really mean when they say something and how they try to avoid saying something they maybe think to be inappropriate. As we could see, euphemisms are a common means to disguise and palliate statements in order to keep within the rules of politeness.

But the attempt to save our face through politeness violates the Gricean maxims which were originally designed for conversation analysis but can be applied in our context, as well.

Moreover, we examined the creation and use of stereotypes and the sensitive topic of disabilities which still seems to be a taboo which people feel uncomfortable talking about. In this context, we also focused on hesitations as a means to avoid and get around silence.

Besides, attention was paid to the analysis of language concerning gender. Do women really express in a completely different way compared to men or is societal behaviour responsible for it, having formed us to what we are today? Concluding, in more ways than one, silence receives importance as a means of communication.

The Bible says that
"In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1) but before there was silence.