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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:
This conversation took place in the lab, after Foreman insisted to Cameron and Chase that House’s two-illness theory cannot be right and that they needed to do
more tests. The three doctors were at different stations, Foreman and Chase being the closest to each other while Cameron was on the other side of the room and
could not hear what the two doctors said to each other. Foreman had announced a negative for a virus and Chase had just fiddled with a machine in the lab. Chase
was relaxed and was intently looking at Cameron as he expressed to Foreman his doubt about finding the right virus out of the thousands of viruses that was yet to
be tested.
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Overview:
This dialogue is another example of irony put to good use. Foreman criticizes Chase by mentioning the exact opposite as true: dilly-dallying is productive.
Implicature Analysis: U09.1 No, I think we’re going to get it by standing around watching other
people work. Flouts maxim of quality
It is obvious that Foreman did not mean what he said, as the solution he gave was knowingly false, hence flouting the maxim of quality. The resulting sarcasm
meant that Foreman is really saying the opposite. Foreman is criticizing what Chase is doing standing around watching Cameron as a bad idea since
there were still over four thousand viruses to process
. Chase knew that Foreman was criticizing him and gave a weak denial: he was waiting for his
Epstein - Barr virus test result.
10. DIALOGUE NO.10 Context:
This conversation picks up where U09.1 left off. The diagnostics team is still in the lab, testing for with viruses, and Chase and Foreman are still separate from
Cameron at this point. The dialogue began when Chase mentioned that Cameron was “weird”. When saying that, Chase’s face was plastered with intense interest
and not with disgust. Foreman mentioned that it was a bad idea, and when it confused Chase as to what is bad, Foreman spoke U10.1. Chase had had a
conversation with Cameron earlier that had something to with female sexuality
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61 which intrigued Chase – which Foreman was aware of although he did not
participate in it. Social context: a romantic relationship between co-workers is generally understood as a bad thing since it could negatively influence one’s
productivity.
Overview:
This dialogue demonstrates how context actively influences utterances. Foreman knew that the conversation that Chase had with Cameron had sparked an
infatuation on Chase’s side. However, it was the urban common sense social context regarding romantic relationships in workplaces that influenced
Foreman’s U10.1.
Implicature Analysis: U10.1 Bad idea. You work with her. Flouts maxim of relevance and quantity
There is really nothing strictly bad about calling somebody weird when spoken among adults. “You work with her”, which was meant to clarify Foreman’s
intention also does not seem to provide enough information as to why Chase’s comment is a bad idea. However, context steps in where the literal utterance could
not clarify. The urban wisdom is that romance between co-workers is a bad thing, and foreman was saying that Chase calling Cameron “weird” was an indication
that Chase was attracted to Cameron and wanted to talk about her. With that, the
implicature becomes complete: Foreman thinks that Chase’s newly found infatuation on Cameron is a bad thing
. Chase understood this implicature and denied that he expressed romantic interest when he said that Cameron was weird.
U10.1 therefore flouts the maxim of quantity Foreman’s reply could not have
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62 conveyed enough information without the help of context and relevance
Foreman’s response does not fit with Chase’s statement that Cameron is “weird”
in order to convey a short advice about office romance to Chase.
11. DIALOGUE NO.11 Context:
