Violations of Maxim of Quantity

from the fat or juices that come out from meat or vegetable that is usually served on top of something. By only saying “gravy”, the waiter looks confused and asks clarification to Ted by saying, “You want gravy on something?” Being thrown a question from the wai ter who asks about the gravy, Ted answers, “Surprise me.” In here, Ted is also not being cooperative in the conversation because he does not give sufficient information about the menu to the waiter. As the result, the message is not successfully delivered to the waiter. In conclusion, by providing less information about the menu he wants to order, it is said that Ted violates the maxim of Quantity. His answer in bold above is inadequate because it does not give sufficient information about the menu. Moreover, the inadequate information gives no clue to the waiter about the menu Ted wants to order. To be cooperative in the conversation, Ted should have explained about the menu he wants to order with gravy on it. That information will be sufficient in the process of exchanging information between him and the waiter. Data code: 11VioQuanInc Girl So, I know the bouncer at this techno club, Posers. Do you feel like dancing? Ted Hell, yeah. I love clubs. I mean, I was going to design a cathedral tonight, kind of take a whack at the whole relationship between God and man conundrum. But sure, lets go dancing. Girl looked confused Yay The situation above is at a party where Ted hang out with the girl he meets at MacLaren‟s. In the excerpt above, the girl is asking Ted to go dancing with her. When the girl asks, “Do you feel like dancing?”, Ted answers her by saying, “Hell, yeah. I love clubs. I mean, I was going to design a cathedral tonight, kind of take a whack at the whole relationship between God and man conundrum. But sure, lets go dancing”. In here, He gives excess information to the girl. Ted‟s statement in bold, which is, “I mean, I was going to design a cathedral tonight, kind of take a whack at the whole relationship between God and man conundrum ” is unnecessary because the girl does not ask him about his plan at that night. It is said that his statement is not required by the situation because what the girl wants Ted to answer is whether or not he wants to dance with her. In conclusion, fr om Ted‟s answer above, it can be seen that he has violated the maxim of Quantity because he is being too informative by providing information as stated in bold above which is not requested by the girl. In order to be sufficient, Ted should have not given information more than what is required. When the girl asks him whether or not he wants to dance, he could have just answered that girl by saying the last statement, which is, “lets go dancing”. This answer is brief and sufficient in order to answer the gi rl‟s question. Data code: 14VioQuanInc Marshall Why cant two guys who are friends go to brunch? Ted Because brunch is kind of... Robin Girly. Marshall Girly? Breakfast isnt girly. Lunch isnt girly. What makes brunch girly? Ted I dont know. Theres nothing girly about a horse, nothing girly about a horn, but put them together and you get a unicorn. Marshall I dont care what either of you say, I am going to the Popover Pantry with Brad. Marshall arrives from watching Alanis Morissette‟s concert with Brad and he finds Ted and Robin at the apartment. He explains his plan to go to brunch with Brad to Ted and Robin. After listening to Marshall‟s plan, Robin and Ted give the same response to Marshall. From the excerpt above, Marshall asks Ted and Robin the reason why two guys who are friends cannot go to brunch. He says, “Why cant two guys who are friends go to brunch?” After that, Ted answers, “Because brunch is kind of...”, and then Robin finishes his statement by adding, “Girly”. In here, in responding Marshall‟s question, Robin‟s answer in bold above is too little because Marshall expects more explanation from Robin and Ted about what they mean with the word “girly”. Robin blatantly gives less information about it to Marshall than what is required. Therefore, Robin‟s statement is said inadequate because she cannot successfully deliver her message to Marshall. By providing too little information in the conversation above, it is said that Robin is not being cooperative. Her less informative statement is the fact that she violates the maxim of Quantity. In order to be more cooperative in the conversation, Robin should have provided more information by explaining further what she means about “gravy” to give an understanding to Marshall.

b. Violations of maxim of Quality

There are one violation of maxim of Quality resulted from the analysis. Data code: 15VioQualInc Ted Ill hand it to you. When he got home, Marshall was smiling. Did you sleep with him? „Cause I was actually like three days away from suggesting that. Robin Sometimes, all you need is to get in touch with your feminine side. We see Marshall shooting and laughing maniacally Ted Well, congratulations. Youre the first person to cheer him up all summer. You win. The conversation above is situated at MacLaren‟s. The excerpt above is when Ted thanks Robin for making Marshall happy again. When Ted asks Robin what she has done to Marshall, Robin answers, “Sometimes, all you need is to get in touch with your feminine side ”. Apparently, Robin is lying to Ted. Robin does not tell Ted the truth since, in fact, she does not cheer Marshall up by getting in touch with his feminine side but by teaching him how to shoot with a gun. That is quite the contrary from what Robin has said to Ted. In here, Robin has her own reason for not telling Ted the truth. She does that because Ted is the type of person who is against guns and he does not know that Robin actually likes guns since she was a kid. It can be seen from Robin‟s answer to Ted above that she does not follow the rule of one of Grice‟s conversational maxims, which is the maxim of Quality. She appears to violate the maxim of Quality because she does not provides information based on truth. Robin lies to Ted so that he would not be angry to her for teaching Marshall to shoot. Apparently, Robin is succeed in covering up the truth to Ted since hi is not being suspicious about the information Robin has given to him.

c. Violation of maxim of Relation

There are two violations of Relation maxim resulted from the analysis. The explanations of the violations are presented below. Data code: Situation: Ted, Robin, Marshall, Lily, and Barney are having brunch with Ted’s parents. In the middle of it, Lily and Marshall are having a quarrel about who seduces who. Lily Just admit it. You came here trying to seduce me. 16VioRelRls Marshall Seduce you? You seduced me. Lily You sat down next to me and took most of your pants off. Marshall You went to San Francisco for three months. Lily How is that seducing you? Marshall Well, its not but Im still mad about it. The excerpt above is a situation where Marshall and Lily are having brunch with Robin, Barney, Ted, and Ted‟s parents. At the restaurant, Marshall and Lily are having a fight about who is seducing who. Lily accuses Marshall for seducing her and vice versa. In the conversation above Marshall and Lily are arguing about who is seducing who. For Lily, Marshall is seducing her by taking most of his pants off. Therefore, she says, “You sat down next to me and took most of your pants off.” After that, Marshall re plies Lily by saying, “You went to San Francisco for three months .” Seeing the context of the conversation, Marshall is not following the cooperative principle because his statement written in bold above is not related to the topic of the discussion in the conversation, which is about who is seducing who. Marshall‟s unrelated response to Lily above may lead to the assumption that Marshall is still mad about the fact that Lily dumps him and cancels the wedding. That being done, Marshall‟s action of not following the cooperative principle creates misunderstanding between him and Lily. It can be said that Marshall brings up the topic about Lily and San Francisco because he wants Lily to know that he has not forgiven her. In here, by providing unrelated statement to change the topic of discussion in the conversation, Marshal is said as violating the maxim of Relation. Data code: 17VioRelRls Teds mother Can I help? Barney Yes, you can, Virginia. Barney is starring at the broach on Ted’s mother’s cloth. Theres a story behind that broach, and Im going to hear it. Teds mother Well, funny you should ask… The situation above is taken from Ted‟s kitchen. Robin wants to serve drinks for Ted and his parents while she is having a conversation with Barney. While Barney is fighting with Robin in the kitchen about stealing Ted‟s parents‟ attention, Ted‟s mother enters the kitchen in order to offer help to them by saying, “Can I help?” Barney, realizing this is his chance to get Ted‟s mother‟s attention, answers her first before Robin can by saying, “Yes, you can, Virginia. Theres a story behind that broach, and Im going to hear it ”. In here, it is clearly seen that Barney is trying to change the topic of the discussio n by talking about Ted‟s mother broach. He does not want Robin to have the chance to get to know Ted‟s mother by letting her alone in the kitchen with Robin. Thus, he steals Ted‟s mother‟s attention by talking about her broach. In here, Barney‟s answer about Ted‟s mother‟s broach, which is written in bold above, is not related to Ted‟s mother‟s expectation which is about helping them in the kitchen. By providing unrelated statement, Barney is not being cooperative in the conversation. He is seen as violating the maxim of Relation because he provides answer that is not related to Ted‟s mother‟s intention. From the situation above, it can be seen that Barney is changing the topic of discussion because he does not want to continue his argument with Robin. Furthermore, he wants to show off to Robin that he can cheer Ted‟s mother up.

d. Violations of maxim of Manner

There are two violations of maxim of Manner resulted from the analysis. All two of the violations are explained bellow. Data code: Robin Should I just kick the door in? 18VioManInc Lily Those are really nice heels and you already lost the purse. Lets see if its unlocked. Its unlocked. Okay, get in there and kick some spankable ass. The excerpt above is from the situation when Robin and Lily are going to the apartment of the girl who is hanging out with Ted that night. They have already arrived in front of the girl‟s apartment when Robin asks Lily, “Should I just kick the door in?” Then, Lily replies her by saying, “Those are really nice heels and you already lost the purse. Lets see if its unlocked. Its unlocked. Okay, get in there and kick some spankable as”. In here, Lily‟s answer as written in bold previously shows that she is not being brief to Robin. By saying that Robin has nice heels and that she has lost her purse, she wants Robin to understand the implicature she is trying to deliver. Lily is not merely telling Robin that she has really nice heels without any purpose. Since previously Robin has lost her purse, Lily does not want Robin to break her nice shoes and lose them as well only because of kicking the apartment‟s door. Thus, Lily proceeds by checking the front door; whether or not it is locked. Since it is not, Lily then gives a clue to Robin to come inside. The conversation in the situation above shows that Lily gives Robin a long winded explanation. Lily could have become more brief and direct to Robin and should have just answered Robin‟s question by telling her to come inside without kicking the front door. In here, it is concluded that Lily is seen as violating the maxim of Manner because she provides long winded explanation by saying her statement as written in bold above. Data code: Marshall Why cant two guys who are friends go to brunch? Ted Because brunch is kind of... Robin Girly. Marshall Girly? Breakfast isnt girly. Lunch isnt girly. What makes brunch girly? 19VioManInc Ted I dont know. Theres nothing girly about a horse, nothing girly about a horn, but put them together and you get a unicorn. Marshall I dont care what either of you say, I am going to the Popover Pantry with Brad. The conversation above is the same conversation which is explained previously as data 14VioQuanInc. In here, as explained before, Marshall asks