Grice's Conversational Maxims

 There are four of Grice’s Conversational Maxims: Relevance, Quality, Quantity, and Manner. Here are some examples of situations I encountered where these maxims were violated:

1) The Maxim of Relevance: Last year, I asked my friend, “Would you like to go to the amusement park this weekend?” She replied, “Unfortunately, I have not been working many hours lately.” She did not respond to me in a relevant way be saying “no”; however, I knew by her tone of voice (disappointment) that she implied she really wanted to go but could not because of her lack of funds.

2) The Maxim of Quality: Almost every night I go to work at a local department store, and a co-worker greets me by saying, “How are you tonight?” I respond with, “Bright and cheery!” In turn, she replies, “Me, too! I couldn’t be happier if I were somewhere else!” We laugh after we exchange this greeting. We violate this maxim because of humor; we use sarcasm to cope with the fact that we are really exhausted by the time we arrive at work! The tone of our voices is light-hearted when we say these words, so we know we are just joking with each other.

3) The Maxim of Quantity: Usually while waiting on customers I ask, “How are you today?” Most people respond, “Fine, and you?” This introduction contains just enough words to provide a friendly interaction between customer and worker. However, sometimes this maxim is violated when a customer responds by talking beyond the point of polite conversation (i.e. telling me why they had a bad day at work, who just moved into their neighborhood, why they do not like certain family members, etc.) Perhaps from the customers’ point of view, they feel they are following the Maxim of Quality by telling me the truth. However, they give me much more information than is needed; maybe they need someone to vent their problems to, but they should realize that they are giving away too much personal information to a sales clerk they barely know!

4) The Maxim of Manner: I think about when my cousin test-drove a car, and I asked her, “Do you like it?” She replied, “It’s fast!” She violated the maxim because she was being ambiguous about how she felt. She may have assumed I knew what she was thinking, but I could have interpreted her response in two different ways; either she thought the car was too fast for her and did not like it, or she enjoyed that it was fast and liked it. Because of the slight tone of apprehensiveness I detected in her voice, I assumed she did not want a very fast car. Although I was right, it would have been important for her to be more direct in her answer.