Maxims

1. maxim
by Geoffrey Leech

2. According to Geoffrey Leech, there is a politeness principle
with conversational maxims similar to those formulated by
Paul Grice.

3. Leech lists six maxims:
tact - Could I interrupt you for a second?
- You relax and let me do the dishes.
approbation - Gideon, I know you're a genius - would you know how to
solve this math problem here?

4. modesty - Oh, I'm so stupid - I didn't make a note of our lecture! Did you?
agreement - A: I don't want my daughter to do this, I want her to do that.
B: Yes, but ma'am, I thought we resolved this already on your last visit.
sympathy -I am sorry to hear about your father.

5. Modesty maxim
● Minimize praise of self ● Maximize dispraise of self.
The modesty maxim may, for example, lead someone to reject a compliment which
had been paid to them.
A:What a bright boy you are! You always get full marks.
B:Thank you. I have very good teachers.
B2：Thank you. The exam questions are not that hard.
B3:Thank you, but I am not the only one in the class that gets full marks.
B4:Yes, I am, ain’t I?

6. ● JORDAN : You do look wonderful. That dress is new, isn’t it? I’ve never seen
it before.
● KIRSTEN : Nope it’s an old one I just don’t wear it very often.

7. The utterance said by Kirsten can be categorized as the use of modesty
maxim because she minimizes praise of herself and maximizes dispraise
of herself. Kirsten maximizes dispraise of herself by disproving Jordan’s
statement and saying that her dress is an old one even though Jordan
praises the dress looks wonderful for him.

8. Thanks for watching!