78
hypothetical illustration, this meant that House’s mocking is a portrayal of his contempt at doctors who overcharge and not at any doctors in particular.
18. DIALOGUE NO.18 Context:
House and his team had just had a meeting with Brandons parents and determined that Brandon’s mother had been giving Brandon his cough medicine, which
House suspected to be colchicines. Brandon had taken the last of those pills before he was switched into the clean room, forcing the team to go to the pharmacy that
dispensed the pills for confirmation. Dialogue 18 took place in the back room of the pharmacy between Chase and the pharmacist, with Mindy and Mrs. Merrell
waiting at the front. Chase had asked to be informed what the medicine was that the pharmacy dispensed, as they think that it was colchicines. The pharmacist
replied that if the prescription says cough medicine, then that is what they will dispense. Chase sounded tense while the pharmacist sounded more assuring and
polite, but with a hint of impatience. Cultural contexts: U18.1 Waiving liability meant that there would not be legal lawsuits.
U18.2 Clerks are often told to be polite to customers, making it highly possible for them to show fake hospitality in shops.
Overview:
This dialogue communicates so much more under the surface, with the floutings giving room for rich emotional implicatures between Chase and the pharmacist.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
79
Implicature Analysis: U18.1 The family is prepared to waive liability, all right? We just need to know
what it was, what dosage it was - Flouts maxim of
relevance
U18.1 is spoken in response to the pharmacist’s denial of having dispensed colchicine. At a glance, being prepared to waive liabilities has nothing to do with
the denial. However, the waiving is immediately relevant with the accused blunder, which the pharmacist is denying. Lawsuits are generally made to respond
to mishaps, and a mishap by the pharmacist could get the pharmacy sued. In this case, Chase was relating the no-lawsuit with the pharmacist’s denial, relaying the
implicature that Chase thinks that the pharmacist is denying due to being scared of getting the pharmacy sued.
Although it has not yet been established in the conversation whether or not the Pharmacy has made a blunder, Chase’s
accusation that there has been a mishap and his deliberate mentioning of waiving
liabilities carries a different meaning. It implies that the Merrells would not be suing, even if there has been a mishap
. Made even more prominent with the assuring “all right?” in U18.1, Chase then tells the pharmacist that they only need
to know what was put in the bottle and its dosage, exactly as the utterance says.
U18.2 It was cough medicine. Flouts maxim of
quantity
The reason this utterance is included in this analysis despite its simplicity, is the fact that this utterance is spoken right after U18.1, which makes it seem lacking.
Chase was bringing a lot to the table, and this response only seems to be a repetition of the pharmacist’s original denial. However, this short statement
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
80 actually conveys a very rich implicature by flouting the maxim of quantity. In
response to the implicature of U18.1, this utterance effectively denies that 1 there has been a blunder, and 2 the pharmacists is only denying due to
being scared of getting sued
. This utterance also pushes aside Chase’s assurance,
insisting that the pharmacist has been telling the truth . The short insistence
and out-of-place politeness also communicates that the pharmacist resents having been accused of lying.
U18.3 Refill it Flouts maxim of relevance and quantity
As a stand-alone utterance, U18.3 may be a pretty straight-forwards directive. In this dialogue, however, U18.3 delivers a much more meaningful implicature.
U18.3 immediately felt out of place, as it has nothing to do with the current dispute. However it is the dispute that causes the production of this short
command. In fact, it was its deliberate irrelevance to the dispute that gives it
relevance. U18.3 is indeed spoken to separate itself from the dispute of whether or not there has been a blunder
. The short U18.3 also allows Chase to stick with his views that are expressed in U18.1, consequently declaring
that he does not believe U18.2, without actually expressing his accusations and further heat the needless debate.
The short order also conveys to the
pharmacist that Chase only cares about solving the case at the moment, and is getting impatient
for having been stalled by the dispute.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
81
19. DIALOGUE NO.19 Context:
