Abstract
We focus on the conversational use of raising both eyebrows in response to a new occasion or information. Two fundamental patterns were found to come into play as frequent visual practices of change-of-state marking: the continuous moving of the eyebrows up and down and the holding of both eyebrows raised. The eyebrow move marks the receipt and unproblematic understanding of news, either as part of responses or as the recipient’s activity during turn production. In contrast, the eyebrow hold appears as an essential part of a salient visual news mark practice displaying surprise or astonishment. While the move is embedded in minimal and unobtrusive change-of-state practices allowing the interlocutors to move on, the hold treats the information received as worthy of further elaboration. However, verbal and embodied practices of news receipting and news marking may diverge in such a way that contradicting conversational demands are contextualised.
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