Trick

I talked often with a friend who opened my eyes to the tricks and sleight of hand employed by teachers of tango dance class and performers to get people to pay for classes that the punters only think develop their dancing, despite the obvious lack of results.  

I had noticed in him and his partner a tendency to separate, distance themselves from others in some milongas to an extent that was marked and had sometimes struck me as extreme.  It nagged at me so about four years ago, eventually and although I had no business raising it, we were talking about that.   

F:  I think, especially in some women, in people without experience and people at the milonga alone, it can lead to them thinking:  "What have we done? What's wrong with us?" It doesn't take much to reassure people.  Smiling at them usually does the trick.

Friend:  Unfortunate choice of word there.

He was being understandably thorny but the lesson about being careful with that word was one that lasted.