Yesterday’s Zits, with Jeremy’s parents getting instruction on how to speak to his friends when they visit:
Grice’s Maxim of Quantity, in two parts:
Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange).
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
(Discussion on this blog here.)
The crucial point, of course, is what Jeremy thinks is required in such exchanges.
Leave a Reply