Passing Conversation

Have any of you ever wondered about how we converse among each other? I'm talking about the day to day stuff and I'm wondering how it corolates with scripture. I mean, doesn't scripture tell us that to refrain from coarse joking and speech that isn't uplifting? Does this leave an impression that we are supposed to be like monks or something? And what is it about some speech we hear that we say has gravity? I've just been wrestling with this stuff lately...