Flouting of maxim of Quality
The situation above is taken at Ted‟s apartment. Robin just goes back from working and Ted is waiting for her. Ted is basically an architect and Robin is a
television news reporter. As it has been explained previously, both Ted and Robin are arguing about each other‟s work stories in the conversation above.
In the middle of the conversation, Ted asks, “Arent you gonna ask how my day was?
” Then, Robin answers, “No, I know how it was. It was awful,” and
she directly changes the topic of discussion by asking Ted, “Ooh, you want to rent a movie tonight?
” In here, before asking Ted to rent a movie, she says that Ted‟s job is awful. She thinks that telling Ted that his job is awful will answer his
question because he keeps asking Robin‟s opinion about his job as an architect. To directly change the topic of discussion, Robin asks Ted whether or not he
wants to rent a movie that night because she does not want to discuss further about the work-sharing issue.
In here, Robin‟s question which is: “Ooh, you want to rent a movie tonight?
” is seen unrelated to the topic being discussed in the conversation which is about Ted‟s job. Being given that question as written in bold previously, Ted
understands Robin‟s intention to change the topic of discussion. Realizing that, instead of answering Robin‟s question, Ted keeps asking her opinion about his
job. In conclusion, Robin‟s attempt to change the topic of discussion by providing unrelated question to Ted shows that she is not being cooperative in the
conversation. She is said to flout the maxim of Relation.