57 People’s guess often represented what they were thinking. In House’s case,
however, the guess could not have been what he was really thinking seeing that it is too implausible to be an actual guess. House was actually setting up a humorous
and dramatic situation with his guess, and anything that could make Jodi’s decision to come to PPTH look ridiculous will suffice. Jodi understood that House
was just using the guess to show his contempt at her, which was why her response to him afterwards the statement, “You’re not a very nice doctor, are you?”. House
deliberately used a concerned tone in guessing that Jodi called the paramedics to deal with mucus and actually waited a whole week to further exaggerate this
mockery of Jodi being overly dramatic.
7. DIALOGUE NO.7 Context:
House spoke U07.1 in a cheerful tone in the diagnostics office to his diagnostics team: Cameron, Chase and Foreman. Foreman replied in a calm manner that he
does not think that Brandon’s kidney failure complicates things.
Overview:
This utterance is a good example of how to use irony. Projecting real joy when announcing a bad news enhances the irony and humour, although the humour
simply comes off as facetious, given the seriousness of the atmosphere.
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Implicature Analysis: U07.1 So, we had six symptoms that didn’t add up to anything, now we have
seven. Who’s excited? Flouted maxim of quality
Kidney failure was bad news, as it adds to the long list of symptoms that Brandon has that had befuddled the doctors earlier – clearly not something to celebrate
about. House was not, in fact, trying to provide any kind of insight. He was
simply using the utterance to add humour to the situation. The irony in U06.1 also invites humour, although the gravity of the situation renders it facetious
.
8. DIALOGUE NO.8 Context:
House had just presented the possibility that Brandon may have two conditions at the same time. When criticized for breaking the principle of “Occam’s Razor” the
simplest explanation is the best one, he gave an illustration of how having two conditions may actually be more acceptable by giving an illustration on babies,
about how the story of two persons creating a baby is more credible that the story of one story bringing a baby to a couple. Foreman immediately responded that
House’s argument analogy is specious.
Overview:
The cooperative principle can be seen in full effect here. An utterance either responds to or reflects the utterance that precedes it. Here, House uses U08.1 to
reflect what he felt about a statement Foreman made.
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Implicature Analysis: U08.1 I think your tie is ugly. Flouts maxim of relevance
U08.1 is certainly does not reflect a good way to communicate. However, the message House was trying to convey with this utterance still gets delivered
anyway. Foreman’s statement has nothing to do with Foreman’s taste in ties, and U08.1 certainly does not weaken Foreman’s statement – albeit quite mean.
However, U08.1 as a deliberate response to Foreman’s statement carries more
significance. House was using the irrelevance of U08.1’s to tell Foreman that he finds Foreman’s comment irrelevant and shows hostility to the comment
. House’s position as their head and his brilliance as a doctor then compel the team
to really consider the plausibility of Brandon having been hit by two conditions.
9. DIALOGUE NO.9 Context:
