Flouting Maxim of Quality
44 utterances above, however, were exaggerated Levinson, 1983, p. 110. In terms of
CP, those were hyperbolic, thus it flouted the maxim of quality Essay, 2013. 2
Using metaphor The following analysis preferably was the figure of speech metaphor which
in the situation transpired to be a result of flouting maxim of quality as appeared in the following excerpt:
S02E05QLFL3
In an apartment, Marshall expostulated in a form of question about why two male friends could not go to brunch.
1 Marshall: Girly? Breakfast isn’t girly. Lunch isn’t girly. What makes brunch girly?
2
Ted: I don’t know. There’s nothing girly about a horse. Nothing girly about a horn, but put them together and you get a unicorn.
S02E04QLFL2
At the bar, knowing that Ted was meeting up kickboxing instructor, Robin as Ted’s girlfriend seemed not to freak out because she thought she didn’t have to listen Ted’s boring
stuff. 1
Robin: It’s awesome. It’s win-win. Ted got to vent and I don’t have to hear it. Maybe after he’s done with the talkie-talk, he’ll come over and I’ll get the fun part.
2
Lily: What is wrong with you? God, I felt like I’m teaching love as a second language here.
As appeared in the excerpt S02E05QLFL3, according to Robin, “Girly”
was a fine word to describe although it seemed to be unreasoningly and irrationally. To bear out Marshall’s understanding, Ted metaphorically uttered “I don’t know.
There’s nothing girly about a horse. Nothing girly about a horn, but put them together and you get a unicorn.” The use of qualifiers “I don’t know” was uttered
by Ted as a dispreferred response upon Marshall’s perception of having brunch. It signaled that Ted was not sure. As was known, in the time, there was a wide-held
social stigma that two males walking together was a lover. By exemplifying two male friends as a horse and a corn, and the unicorn as the effeminacy, he expected
Marshall to grasp the inference. The same account occurred in the excerpt
45
S02E04QLFL2. In the situation, Robin who was supposed to get panic after
hearing the bad news about his boyfriend behaving oppositely as if nothing occurred. From Lily’s view, Robin seemed to know less about how to be in a
relationship. To express her emotion, Lily exaggerated that teaching Robin a love had the same obstacle with teaching a second language. Besides, in that situation,
Lily implied that love had some similar characteristics of second language. In another word, Lily took the metaphor a second language to a love.
However, those utterances were not intended to mislead the hearer. The speakers expected the hearers to infer the implied meaning Levinson, 1983, p.
110. With his metaphor to effeminate behavior of Marshall’s brunch invitation, Ted was trying to tell that Marshall and his male friend would look similar to a cute
couple if they went to brunch. Ted did not assure pretty well, yet he felt uncertain. The fashion of Ted’s utterance to response Marshall’s inquiry, however, in terms
of CP, constituted flouting maxim of quality Essay, 2013. 3
Delivering sarcastic tone Delivering sarcastic tone in the collected data was discovered to be the case
of flouting maxim of quality, described as follows:
S02E09QLFL4
1
Marshall: She’s pretty a private person.
2
Lily: Except when she’s talking about… visualization about Robin telling her friend’s marriage stuff
3
Ted: So you don’t think there’s any ‘friend’ from Canada?
4
Marshall: Oh, I’m sure there is. Just like I have a ‘friend’ who wet his bed till he was ten. Use your brain Ted.
As appeared in the excerpt above, Marshall flouted maxim of quality by delivering sarcastic tone Essay, 2013. The occurrence of the account was
expressed not apart from the situation which Ted was facing at the time. The privacy
46 issues about Robin’s past life in Canada brought out some presumptions from her
friends. In the view of Ted’s perspective, it was abstruse situation. Some of friends casted their premature judgment about Robin’s past life which might be possible as
the underlying reasons why she did not want to go to a mall. Marshall suggested Ted a hint that Robin was married at the mall. Ted with his incredulous feeling,
then, clarified the possibility that Robin casted ‘friend’ to tell her past life in Canada. Subsequently, Marshall uttered 4 “Oh, I’m sure there is. Just like I have
a ‘friend’ who wet his bed till he was ten. Use your brain Ted.” The dispreferred token “Oh, I’m sure there is.” in his utterance proceeded dispreffered turn of
Marshall. In his utterance, Marshall expected Ted to draw the inference that ‘friend’ was Robin herself. The fashion of Marshall uttering the exchange was intended to
deliver sarcastic tone which required to be inferred oppositely Levinson, 183, p. 110.