The Use of 'Say Something Off Record' in 'Friends' TV Series.
ABSTRACT
Dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, acapkali kita berkomunikasi dengan orang
lain. Dalam komunikasi tersebut, tidak hanya bahasa yang langsung tetapi juga
bahasa tidak langsung digunakan. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut, dalam tugas
akhir ini, saya hendak mencari tahu apakah bahasa yang tidak langsung juga
memiliki peranan penting dalam berkomunikasi dalam tugas akhir saya. Lewat
penelitiannya tentang peranan bahasa tidak langsung dalam komedi situasi
Amerika berjudul Friends.
Saya mengumpulkan teori mengenai bahasa tidak langsung dari berbagai
sumber, seperti internet, dan berbagai buku dari perpustakaan. Saya juga
mengaplikasikan teori yang berkaitan dengan Pragmatics dan juga teori spesifik
mengenai bahasa tidak langsung, yang dalam Pragmatics disebut dengan say
something off record. Bahasa tidak langsung atau yang disebut dengan say
something off record memiliki fitur-fitur yang diekspresikan melalui metaphor
(metafora), giving hints (memberikan petunjuk), atau ambiguous atau vague
(tuturan bermakna ambigu).
Dalam menganalisis semua data yang diperoleh, saya mendapati bahwa
bahasa tidak langsung memiliki peranan penting dalam penyampaian pesan dari
penutur kepada mitra tutur. Ada beberapa alasan dalam penggunaan bahasa tidak
iii
Maranatha Christian University
langsung. Diantaranya ialah apabila penutur memiliki hubungan yang tidak terlalu
dekat dengan mitra tutur, atau penutur dengan sengaja menggunakan bahasa yang
tidak langsung untuk menyindir mitra tutur, apabila penutur tidak ingin
menyinggung lawan pembicara, atau bahkan penutur hanya sekedar ingin
membuat lelucon. Bahasa tidak langsung juga mempunyai peranan penting dalam
memberikan efek terhadap atmosfir cerita. Dalam serial Friends, kebanyakan
atmosfir yang dihasilkan adalah berupa kelucuan. Ada beberapa alasan mengapa
bahasa tidak langsung memberikan efek lucu dalam film seri Friends. Diantaranya
adalah apabila mitra tutur tidak mengerti maksud penutur dan melakukan hal yang
tidak seharusnya. Bahasa tidak langsung juga digunakan apabila penutur merasa
gengsi untuk mengatakan maksud secara langsung atau apabila pembicara
menggunakan bahasa tidak langsung dengan sengaja untuk menggoda mitra tutur.
Hal inilah yang akan saya bahas dalam tugas akhir saya.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ..............................................................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................
Background of the Study ............................................................
Statement of the Problem ............................................................
Purpose of the Study ...................................................................
Methods of Research ...................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ..........................................................
1
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .....................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF SAYING
SOMETHING OFF RECORD IN FRIENDS TV SERIES ....
10
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ...................................................
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................
30
APPENDIX ............................................................................................
31
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDIX
Data 1
Monica
Phoebe
Rachel
Phoebe
: Just breathe, that’s it. Just try to think of nice, calm things.
: Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
Door bells and sleigh bells and something with mittens.
Lala…something with string (singing)
: I’m all better now.
: I helped
Data 2
Rachel
Chandler
Joey
: Isn’t it amazing? I have never made coffee before in my life.
: That is amazing.
: Congratulations. If you feel like you gotta make a western omelet
or something? (They drink the coffee)
Although, actually I’m really not that hungry.
Data 3
Emily’s father : Nice of you to offer to pay for half the wedding.
Ross’s father : Oh, forget it. the hell with the tradition. We’re happy to do it.
Ross’s mother : We know how expensive wedding can be. Besides, this maybe
the only wedding we can get to throw. (Patting Monica’s
shoulder)
Data 4
Monica
Franny
Monica
: You know Paul?
: Paul the wine guy?
Yeah, I know Paul.
: You mean you know Paul like I know Paul?
31
Maranatha Christian University
Data 5
Rachel
Monica
Rachel
Monica
: You’re gonna leave your shoes out here?
: Aha…
: Really just casually, strewn about in that reckless, haphazard
manner?
: It does not matter I’ll get them tomorrow or not! Whenever.
Data 6
Rachel : Enough about me, Mr. back from the orient.
Come on. I wanna hear everything! Everything!
Ross : Well, where do I start?
This is Julie. Julie, this is Rachel.
Data 7
Rachel : Here is your lemonade.
Ross : I didn’t order lemonade
Rachel : Oh, then you better go take that back, they’ll charge you for that.
Ross : But…
Rachel : Go, go, go! Come on, come on!
Data 8
Joey
: When I first move to the city. I went out a couple time with this girl.
Really hot. Great kisser. But she had the biggest Adam’s apple.
Drove me nuts.
Chandler : You or me?
Ross : I got it.
Joey, women don’t have Adam’s apples.
Joey : you guys are messing with me, right?
Data 9
: Darn it, we’re all out of milk.
Hey Chandler, will you fill me up here.
Chandler: I see, I see.
Because of the third-nipple thing.
Ross
Data 10
Rachel : So how was your date?
31
Maranatha Christian University
Monica: Well, I always wanted to go out with Chip Matthews in high school.
Tonight, I actually went out with Chip Matthews in high school.
Rachel : Honey, I am sorry.
Data 11
Chandler : My friend Rachel, wants to be set up.
Partner 1 : I just got out of a big relationship.
Partner 2 : Wow, is this “hot Rachel” that you took to the Christmas party?
Chandler : Oh, by the way that is her full name.
Partner 2 : Wow! I’m free for her.
Partner 1 : Wait, I wasn’t say I wasn’t free.
Partner 2 : hey, Chandler let’s talk it over at the Ranger game.
Partner 1 : hold on, I just got a box of Cuban.
Chandler : I don’t know what that is, but that’s pretty nice jacket.
Kind of like that tie too.
Data 12
Monica : How are you?
You sleep okay?
Did you talk to Barry?
I can’t stop smiling.
Rachel : I can see that. You look like you slept with hanger in your mouth.
Data 13
Monica : See you.
Ross : (smiling)
Monica : Wait, wait.
Hey, what’s with you?
Ross : I just grabbed her spoon.
32
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In our daily life, we converse with people around us. Commonly, we
produce more than one utterance within our conversation. Furthermore, our
utterance may indicate more than one meaning, which depends on the context and
situation of our utterance.
In our conversation, sometimes people cannot express their intention or
utter what they want to directly. Thus, we have to have more awareness of
interpreting people‟s intention within their utterances. This is the thing that I
would like to discuss in my thesis. In my thesis, I hope to be able to understand
more of what someone intends to say indirectly within his or her utterance. I find
it important to know what actually someone intends to say through his or her
utterances, especially the things which are not said directly. In other words, we
must be more critical in interpreting one‟s intention within his or her utterances. If
we do not understand one‟s utterances properly, it may lead to the occurrence of
misunderstanding, disappointment or even humor.
1
Maranatha Christian University
The idea of choosing this particular topic for my thesis arises from the fact
that there are a lot of people around us that always say something indirectly
which, in linguistics, is termed as say something off record, within their daily
conversation. In particular, say something off record is a type of statement which
is said indirectly to the other (Yule, 2000:63). One often adopts say something off
record to reveal one‟s intention when one is speaking to one‟s family and friends.
Very often, one‟s utterances imply another meaning. For example, when one
wants to praise the other, one rarely does it directly. Sometimes, one also asks
something indirectly. For instance, one utters, “I went to Kota Bunga at Puncak
and saw a beautiful Chinese bowl yesterday. I wanted to buy that bowl, but there
was not enough time.” On hearing the particular sentence, we are likely to
interpret that the speaker is only telling us about his or her experience in Kota
Bunga. Yet, it is also possible that the speaker may have another intention of
telling people about his or her experience. It is probable that he or she might
actually want us, the hearers, to buy that bowl for his or her. In this case, he or she
adopts say something off record to ask someone to buy his or her the bowl
indirectly. He or she does it because he or she does not want his or her utterance
to sound impolite.
The same thing also happens to me. When I hear the speaker‟s utterances,
I do not immediately realize his or her intention of saying that sentence indirectly.
This fact motivates me to know further say something off record for my thesis. It
is truly hoped after I have finished my thesis, the readers and I will have more
awareness of one‟s intention within his or her utterances.
2
Maranatha Christian University
In this thesis, I would like to observe the utterances used in people‟s
conversation through movies. There are different genres of movies, such as
mystery, comedy, romance, action. However, for my thesis, I would like to choose
situational comedy series as my data. It is because I find that there are a number
of humorous scenes that occur due to the application of say something off record.
I choose Friends TV series because it is one of the most popular comedy films. I
think it is appropriate for my source of data. There are a lot of daily conversations
which indicate say something off record in this film.
In this film, I find that the characters use say something off record in
various situations. In addition, I would like to find out in what kind of situations
the character usually applying say something off record. I also find out there are a
lot of utterances indicating that the characters do not reveal their intentions
directly. I also point out that in this film, the use of say something off record
makes particular scene become funny. Besides, I choose this source of data as I
like watching Friends movies series. I enjoy watching comedy films. Hence, my
thesis title is The Use of ‘Say Something Off Record’ in Friends TV Series.
My topic falls under the study of Pragmatics. Pragmatics is the „study of
speaker meaning as distinct from word or sentence meaning‟. In Pragmatics, we
can learn about some types of statements, and politeness. According to George
Yule, there are two types of statement. They are say something off record and say
something on record. Saying something off record means people are not saying
their intention directly. People use say something off record in their utterances for
they want to respect other people. They want to show their politeness towards
3
Maranatha Christian University
other participants. While saying something on record means people‟s revealing
their intention directly through the utterances. (Yule, 2000:63)
Statement of the Problem
1. Which of the character‟s utterances uses say something off record?
2. What are the features of say something off record used in the character‟s
utterance?
3. What makes the character decide to apply say something off record?
4. What does the character actually want to say within his or her utterance?
5. How does the use of say something off record help the atmosphere of the
scene to become funny?
Purpose of the Study
1. To know which of the character‟s utterance suggests say something off
record.
2. To know the features of say something off record used within the
character‟s utterance.
3. To know their reasons for the characters‟ applying say something off
record.
4. To know what the character actually wants to say within his or her
utterance.
5. To know how the use of say something off record help the atmosphere of
the scene to become funny.
4
Maranatha Christian University
Methods of Research
In analyzing my topic, I watch Friends movie series and then I select the
data, which show the function of say something off record. After wards, I look for
the theory from the Internet and read some books concerned with say something
off record. Furthermore, I read some references related to my topic. Finally, I
analyze the use of saying something off record in Friends TV series.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains
the Theoretical Framework as a basis used to analyze the data. The discussion of
the say something off the record in Friends TV series is presented in Chapter
Three. Subsequently, it is followed by Chapter Four, which is the Conclusion.
Eventually, the thesis ends with the Bibliography and Appendix.
5
Maranatha Christian University
6
Maranatha Christian University
7
Maranatha Christian University
8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Textbook:
Yule, George. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.2000
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction : an Introduction to Pragmatics.
London : Longman. 1995.
30
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, acapkali kita berkomunikasi dengan orang
lain. Dalam komunikasi tersebut, tidak hanya bahasa yang langsung tetapi juga
bahasa tidak langsung digunakan. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut, dalam tugas
akhir ini, saya hendak mencari tahu apakah bahasa yang tidak langsung juga
memiliki peranan penting dalam berkomunikasi dalam tugas akhir saya. Lewat
penelitiannya tentang peranan bahasa tidak langsung dalam komedi situasi
Amerika berjudul Friends.
Saya mengumpulkan teori mengenai bahasa tidak langsung dari berbagai
sumber, seperti internet, dan berbagai buku dari perpustakaan. Saya juga
mengaplikasikan teori yang berkaitan dengan Pragmatics dan juga teori spesifik
mengenai bahasa tidak langsung, yang dalam Pragmatics disebut dengan say
something off record. Bahasa tidak langsung atau yang disebut dengan say
something off record memiliki fitur-fitur yang diekspresikan melalui metaphor
(metafora), giving hints (memberikan petunjuk), atau ambiguous atau vague
(tuturan bermakna ambigu).
Dalam menganalisis semua data yang diperoleh, saya mendapati bahwa
bahasa tidak langsung memiliki peranan penting dalam penyampaian pesan dari
penutur kepada mitra tutur. Ada beberapa alasan dalam penggunaan bahasa tidak
iii
Maranatha Christian University
langsung. Diantaranya ialah apabila penutur memiliki hubungan yang tidak terlalu
dekat dengan mitra tutur, atau penutur dengan sengaja menggunakan bahasa yang
tidak langsung untuk menyindir mitra tutur, apabila penutur tidak ingin
menyinggung lawan pembicara, atau bahkan penutur hanya sekedar ingin
membuat lelucon. Bahasa tidak langsung juga mempunyai peranan penting dalam
memberikan efek terhadap atmosfir cerita. Dalam serial Friends, kebanyakan
atmosfir yang dihasilkan adalah berupa kelucuan. Ada beberapa alasan mengapa
bahasa tidak langsung memberikan efek lucu dalam film seri Friends. Diantaranya
adalah apabila mitra tutur tidak mengerti maksud penutur dan melakukan hal yang
tidak seharusnya. Bahasa tidak langsung juga digunakan apabila penutur merasa
gengsi untuk mengatakan maksud secara langsung atau apabila pembicara
menggunakan bahasa tidak langsung dengan sengaja untuk menggoda mitra tutur.
Hal inilah yang akan saya bahas dalam tugas akhir saya.
iv
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ..............................................................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................
Background of the Study ............................................................
Statement of the Problem ............................................................
Purpose of the Study ...................................................................
Methods of Research ...................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ..........................................................
1
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .....................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF SAYING
SOMETHING OFF RECORD IN FRIENDS TV SERIES ....
10
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ...................................................
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................
30
APPENDIX ............................................................................................
31
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDIX
Data 1
Monica
Phoebe
Rachel
Phoebe
: Just breathe, that’s it. Just try to think of nice, calm things.
: Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
Door bells and sleigh bells and something with mittens.
Lala…something with string (singing)
: I’m all better now.
: I helped
Data 2
Rachel
Chandler
Joey
: Isn’t it amazing? I have never made coffee before in my life.
: That is amazing.
: Congratulations. If you feel like you gotta make a western omelet
or something? (They drink the coffee)
Although, actually I’m really not that hungry.
Data 3
Emily’s father : Nice of you to offer to pay for half the wedding.
Ross’s father : Oh, forget it. the hell with the tradition. We’re happy to do it.
Ross’s mother : We know how expensive wedding can be. Besides, this maybe
the only wedding we can get to throw. (Patting Monica’s
shoulder)
Data 4
Monica
Franny
Monica
: You know Paul?
: Paul the wine guy?
Yeah, I know Paul.
: You mean you know Paul like I know Paul?
31
Maranatha Christian University
Data 5
Rachel
Monica
Rachel
Monica
: You’re gonna leave your shoes out here?
: Aha…
: Really just casually, strewn about in that reckless, haphazard
manner?
: It does not matter I’ll get them tomorrow or not! Whenever.
Data 6
Rachel : Enough about me, Mr. back from the orient.
Come on. I wanna hear everything! Everything!
Ross : Well, where do I start?
This is Julie. Julie, this is Rachel.
Data 7
Rachel : Here is your lemonade.
Ross : I didn’t order lemonade
Rachel : Oh, then you better go take that back, they’ll charge you for that.
Ross : But…
Rachel : Go, go, go! Come on, come on!
Data 8
Joey
: When I first move to the city. I went out a couple time with this girl.
Really hot. Great kisser. But she had the biggest Adam’s apple.
Drove me nuts.
Chandler : You or me?
Ross : I got it.
Joey, women don’t have Adam’s apples.
Joey : you guys are messing with me, right?
Data 9
: Darn it, we’re all out of milk.
Hey Chandler, will you fill me up here.
Chandler: I see, I see.
Because of the third-nipple thing.
Ross
Data 10
Rachel : So how was your date?
31
Maranatha Christian University
Monica: Well, I always wanted to go out with Chip Matthews in high school.
Tonight, I actually went out with Chip Matthews in high school.
Rachel : Honey, I am sorry.
Data 11
Chandler : My friend Rachel, wants to be set up.
Partner 1 : I just got out of a big relationship.
Partner 2 : Wow, is this “hot Rachel” that you took to the Christmas party?
Chandler : Oh, by the way that is her full name.
Partner 2 : Wow! I’m free for her.
Partner 1 : Wait, I wasn’t say I wasn’t free.
Partner 2 : hey, Chandler let’s talk it over at the Ranger game.
Partner 1 : hold on, I just got a box of Cuban.
Chandler : I don’t know what that is, but that’s pretty nice jacket.
Kind of like that tie too.
Data 12
Monica : How are you?
You sleep okay?
Did you talk to Barry?
I can’t stop smiling.
Rachel : I can see that. You look like you slept with hanger in your mouth.
Data 13
Monica : See you.
Ross : (smiling)
Monica : Wait, wait.
Hey, what’s with you?
Ross : I just grabbed her spoon.
32
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In our daily life, we converse with people around us. Commonly, we
produce more than one utterance within our conversation. Furthermore, our
utterance may indicate more than one meaning, which depends on the context and
situation of our utterance.
In our conversation, sometimes people cannot express their intention or
utter what they want to directly. Thus, we have to have more awareness of
interpreting people‟s intention within their utterances. This is the thing that I
would like to discuss in my thesis. In my thesis, I hope to be able to understand
more of what someone intends to say indirectly within his or her utterance. I find
it important to know what actually someone intends to say through his or her
utterances, especially the things which are not said directly. In other words, we
must be more critical in interpreting one‟s intention within his or her utterances. If
we do not understand one‟s utterances properly, it may lead to the occurrence of
misunderstanding, disappointment or even humor.
1
Maranatha Christian University
The idea of choosing this particular topic for my thesis arises from the fact
that there are a lot of people around us that always say something indirectly
which, in linguistics, is termed as say something off record, within their daily
conversation. In particular, say something off record is a type of statement which
is said indirectly to the other (Yule, 2000:63). One often adopts say something off
record to reveal one‟s intention when one is speaking to one‟s family and friends.
Very often, one‟s utterances imply another meaning. For example, when one
wants to praise the other, one rarely does it directly. Sometimes, one also asks
something indirectly. For instance, one utters, “I went to Kota Bunga at Puncak
and saw a beautiful Chinese bowl yesterday. I wanted to buy that bowl, but there
was not enough time.” On hearing the particular sentence, we are likely to
interpret that the speaker is only telling us about his or her experience in Kota
Bunga. Yet, it is also possible that the speaker may have another intention of
telling people about his or her experience. It is probable that he or she might
actually want us, the hearers, to buy that bowl for his or her. In this case, he or she
adopts say something off record to ask someone to buy his or her the bowl
indirectly. He or she does it because he or she does not want his or her utterance
to sound impolite.
The same thing also happens to me. When I hear the speaker‟s utterances,
I do not immediately realize his or her intention of saying that sentence indirectly.
This fact motivates me to know further say something off record for my thesis. It
is truly hoped after I have finished my thesis, the readers and I will have more
awareness of one‟s intention within his or her utterances.
2
Maranatha Christian University
In this thesis, I would like to observe the utterances used in people‟s
conversation through movies. There are different genres of movies, such as
mystery, comedy, romance, action. However, for my thesis, I would like to choose
situational comedy series as my data. It is because I find that there are a number
of humorous scenes that occur due to the application of say something off record.
I choose Friends TV series because it is one of the most popular comedy films. I
think it is appropriate for my source of data. There are a lot of daily conversations
which indicate say something off record in this film.
In this film, I find that the characters use say something off record in
various situations. In addition, I would like to find out in what kind of situations
the character usually applying say something off record. I also find out there are a
lot of utterances indicating that the characters do not reveal their intentions
directly. I also point out that in this film, the use of say something off record
makes particular scene become funny. Besides, I choose this source of data as I
like watching Friends movies series. I enjoy watching comedy films. Hence, my
thesis title is The Use of ‘Say Something Off Record’ in Friends TV Series.
My topic falls under the study of Pragmatics. Pragmatics is the „study of
speaker meaning as distinct from word or sentence meaning‟. In Pragmatics, we
can learn about some types of statements, and politeness. According to George
Yule, there are two types of statement. They are say something off record and say
something on record. Saying something off record means people are not saying
their intention directly. People use say something off record in their utterances for
they want to respect other people. They want to show their politeness towards
3
Maranatha Christian University
other participants. While saying something on record means people‟s revealing
their intention directly through the utterances. (Yule, 2000:63)
Statement of the Problem
1. Which of the character‟s utterances uses say something off record?
2. What are the features of say something off record used in the character‟s
utterance?
3. What makes the character decide to apply say something off record?
4. What does the character actually want to say within his or her utterance?
5. How does the use of say something off record help the atmosphere of the
scene to become funny?
Purpose of the Study
1. To know which of the character‟s utterance suggests say something off
record.
2. To know the features of say something off record used within the
character‟s utterance.
3. To know their reasons for the characters‟ applying say something off
record.
4. To know what the character actually wants to say within his or her
utterance.
5. To know how the use of say something off record help the atmosphere of
the scene to become funny.
4
Maranatha Christian University
Methods of Research
In analyzing my topic, I watch Friends movie series and then I select the
data, which show the function of say something off record. After wards, I look for
the theory from the Internet and read some books concerned with say something
off record. Furthermore, I read some references related to my topic. Finally, I
analyze the use of saying something off record in Friends TV series.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains
the Theoretical Framework as a basis used to analyze the data. The discussion of
the say something off the record in Friends TV series is presented in Chapter
Three. Subsequently, it is followed by Chapter Four, which is the Conclusion.
Eventually, the thesis ends with the Bibliography and Appendix.
5
Maranatha Christian University
6
Maranatha Christian University
7
Maranatha Christian University
8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Textbook:
Yule, George. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.2000
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction : an Introduction to Pragmatics.
London : Longman. 1995.
30
Maranatha Christian University