In an argument, the first person to go quiet isn’t always losing. Sometimes they’re just done giving free information.

Silence gets read as defeat because the loud person is still visibly trying. But an argument is also a place where you hand over your reasoning and your soft spots, and at some point continuing only gives away more. Stopping can be a decision rather than a surrender. The person who has nothing left to learn from the conversation is not the one losing it.

If you find yourself repeating a point for the third time, stop and say you are done for now. Do not confuse being quiet with agreeing. Come back to it later, in private, when there is something new to say.