Gray Rocking
Being dull when interacting with toxic people
Example
Have you tried gray rocking Heather? I find she tends to get bored if you just don't take her bait a few times
![Gray rocking doesn't always work](https://slang.net/img/slang/lg/gray_rocking_6705.png)
Related Slang
Troll | A person who posts offensive comments |
8TB | Ate the bait |
Put on blast | To call out |
Shade | Disrespect |
Bootsie | Boring person |
Weak tea | Boring gossip |
Spill the tea | Share the gossip |
Hoovering | Sucking a person back into a relationship |
Gray rocking is a strategy people use to deal with manipulative, narcissistic, or otherwise toxic people. It consists of being as dull and vague as possible when conversing with a toxic person. Those who gray rock hope the toxic people in their lives will find them as bland as a simple gray rock, and move on to more interesting targets.
For example, if a "friend" of yours who lives for drama begins discussing something that triggers you, you could reply with a simple "oh" or "I don't know" instead of falling into their trap. You could then change the topic to something incredibly boring, to shut down your "friend."
In theory, gray rocking will shift a toxic person's attention to another topic or person, preventing you from having to continue interacting with the person on their terms. However, in practice, gray rocking does not always work. For example, attempting to ignore or divert a toxic person's behavior could instead cause them to escalate their efforts, making your situation even worse.