Humour Archive

Scraps of humour research presented here for your consumption. Comments welcome.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Violatus Maximus

For the linguists among you, here are some violated Gricean Maxims (also from Eco's Travels in Hyperreality):

(1) Maxim of quantity -
Make your contribution as informative as is required:
'Excuse me, do you have the time?'
'Yes'

(2) Maxim of quality -
(a) Do not say that which you believe to be false:
'My God, I beseech thee, give me some proof of thy nonexistence!'

(b) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence:
'I find Maritain's thought unnacceptable and irritating. Thank God I've never read any of his books!'

(3) Maxim of relation -
Be relevant:
'Can you give me a motorboat?'
'Why, you bet your life! I did my military service in Death Valley!'

(4) Maxim of manner -
Avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguitiy. Be brief and avoid unnecessary prolixity. Be orderly:
Mrs Slocombe (from 'Are You Being Served'):It's a wonder I'm here at all, you know. My pussy got soakin' wet. I had to dry it out in front of the fire before I left.

1 Comments:

Blogger AJ said...

Cool and VERY specific examples.. hahaha

6:30 pm  

Post a Comment

<< Home