Grice's Maxims

Implicature, Presupposition, or Entailment?

All cows eat grass and Bossie is a cow.

Bossie eats grass.

• Implicature

• Presupposition

• Entailment

Answer explanation

Entailment: If P is true, then Q is also true. In this case, if all cows eat grass and Bossie is cow, then Bossie must also eat grass.

Implicature, Presupposition, or Entailment?

Stop bothering me!

You are bothering me.

• Implicature

• Presupposition

• Entailment

Answer explanation

Stop bothering me!

presupposes

You are bothering me.

P presupposes Q: Q has to be true for P's truth or falsity to be evaluated. If you aren't bothering me, I can't ask you to stop bothering me.

Implicature, Presupposition, or Entailment?

Hortense made three pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

Hortense made no more than three pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

• Implicature

• Presupposition

• Entailment

Answer explanation

From the first statement, we can reasonably assume that he made three pies, but it's also possible that he made four or more pies.

Be Brief -- Violation or Flout?

We combined the chicken stock, the wine, the rice, the pepper, the saffron, and the other stuff and made risotto milanese.

• Violation

• Flout

Quality -- Violation or Flout?

Do you have any pets in your 400 sq ft apartment?

Yes, I have a giraffe and a hippo.

• Violation

• Flout

"Relevance" -- Violation or Flout?

"Did you just pee in the pool?”

“Hey look! That’s a Sinclair Brontosaurus over there!"

• Violation

• Flout

Which maxim?

Q: Where does Timmy live?

A: O'er yonder in a soybean field

• Quality

• Quantity

• Relevance

• Manner

• None of the above

Which maxim?

Q: Do you want to go milk the cows right now?

A: How about Toews and his retirement from the Blackhawks?

• Quality

• Quantity

• Relevance

• Manner

• None of the above

Which maxim?

Q: How long does it take to drive to Disney World from Chicago?

A: Exactly 28.6 hours.

• Quality

• Quantity

• Relevance

• Manner

• None of the above

Which maxim?

[In response to a jump scare]

“You almost gave me an MI!” (where MI = myocardial infarction = heart attack)

• Quality

• Quantity

• Relevance

• Manner

• None of the above