I invented one yesterday, during a traffic altercation.
I was driving through a parking lot, and a woman, who wasn’t looking in my direction, started to pull out and nearly hit me. I honked my car horn so that we wouldn’t have an accident.
Both our windows were open, so she started screaming angrily, saying that I should have slowed down and let her go—expletive—who do I think I am—expletive, expletive…
I looked right at her, put my index finger to my pursed lips, and “shhhed” her. No words, no angry reactions; I just treated her like a misbehaving child. She let loose a loud string of profanity. I “shhhed’ her again, and she shut up.
Amazing experience. It’s no secret that when anger meets anger, an ugly conflict ensues, and that deflecting anger—when possible—is a better tactic.