45
Phoebe : Your hair looks too good, I think it would upset her. Ross, why dont you come on in.
Ross : Yeah. Gets up, but then pauses when he realizes what that
meant .
What Phoebe meant by saying Your hair looks too good, I think it would
upset her. Ross, why dont you come on in, in a hint or two, Ross felt he was the one who deserved to see Monica the most. Then he realized that what Phoebe just
said was that his hair was not good or as bad as Monica’s. Here, Phoebe flouted the maxim of Manner.
2. Violating Maxims on Sitcom
Friends
If someone violates a maxim, heshe intends to mislead the hearer Grice, 1989. Thomas 1995 points out that the cases of violating maxims were found in
the parliamentary speeches, advertisements, and trials. Based on the findings, violating maxims were also found in the scripts of sitcoms
Friends. Moreover, violating was the category of non-observance maxims that was mostly appeared in
the scripts. The humorous effects produced by the characters in Friends who
violated maxims can be seen as in the findings below.
a. Violating Maxim of Quality
Violating is different from flouting, though some linguists are “equating maxim
violates with maxim flouts” Dynel, 2008:160. Violating maxims of Quality means the speaker either tells what you believe to be false or lack
adequate evidence to mislead the hearer Grice, 1989. There are some cases
46 found in
Friends. Here is the example of violating a maxim by telling what you believe to be false in order to mislead the hearer:
EXCERPT 3.1 Chandler broke up with his girlfriend because she has big nostrils. His
friends, except Joey, cannot understand why Chandler broke up only because of physical oddities. Joey, Chandler’s roommate tries to tell the
same experience that he has with a ‘woman’ to make others understand. Joey
: Hold it, hold it. I gotta side with Chandler on this one. When I first moved to the city, I went out a couple of times with this girl,
really hot, great kisser, but she had the biggest Adams apple. It made me nuts.
Chandler: To Ross You or me?
Ross : I got it. Uh, Joey, women dont have Adams apples All girls:
look up and show their necks which do not have Adam’s apples Joey
: You guys are messing with me, right? All
: Yeah.
Joey : That was a good one. For a second there, I was like, whoa.
Everyone, except Joey, was violating the maxim of Quality, because the others said what they have believed to be false. In the excerpt, it seemed that Joey
did not know that women did not have Adam’s apples. When Ross tried to tell the truth that women did not have it, Joey did not believe. When the girls showed
their necks, Joey thought everyone was messing with him. Finally, the others chose to tell a lie that they were just kidding about Adam’s apple things.
The second example is violating a maxim by telling something without enough evidence or knowledge
in order to mislead the hearer:
EXCERPT 3.4 As soon as Monica and the gang heard that Mr.Heckles died, they run to
the hall downstairs. Mr. Heckels wrapped up on a sheet being wheeled out on a gurney with the gang and the janitor, Mr. Treeger, looking on.
Monica
: Mr. Heckles. Rachel
: How did this happen? Mr. Treeger
: He musta been sweeping. They found a broom in his hand.
47 Monica
: Thats terrible. Mr. Treeger
: I know. I was sweeping yesterday. It coulda been me. Ross
: Sure, you coulda. You never know. Mr. Treeger
: You never know. Mr. Treeger violated the maxim of Quality by giving a statement that is
lack of adequate evidence. Mr. Treeger did not see what was happening before Mr. Heckels died; he just got the information from the officers, who found a
broom in Mr, Heckels’ hand. From the fact, Mr. Treeger concluded that Mr. Heckels died because of sweeping. When Rachel asked him how that happened,
he said He musta been sweeping. They found a broom in his hand.
It becomes funny, because, normally, sweeping is not the reason why somebody dies.
b. Violating Maxim of Quantity
