Banter

The term comes from English and has no German word that quite captures it. 'Geplänkel' sounds too harmless, 'Streit' too serious. Banter is both at once: a way to test the other person while showing that you're listening.

The signs: short lines, quick returns, no cheap shots. Both of them are amused, usually without laughing out loud. And sooner or later a line tips, goes quieter and more serious, and the game holds its breath for a second.

In the summer of 1913, at the 'Kurhotel Waldesruh,' the spa doctor prescribes you rest and his assistant prescribes contradiction—a duel of words between corsets and class barriers. In 'Three Days Until Family,' playful verbal sparring with the sharp-tongued Livia sets the pace for the countdown. And on the Cornwall coast in 'Salty Waves,' a lifeguard from Lisbon isn't afraid to tell you she knows more than you do.