Topic 12 - Meaning between the lines (Session A) > Practising Gricean Analysis > Task D > Our answer

Practising Gricean Analysis

Task D - Our answer

This response flouts the maxim of manner because of the use of negation here. Your friend could have expressed roughly the same content by using a positive expression like 'He's rude'. The implicature is that your friend thinks the person is rude but doesn't want to say so directly for some reason (perhaps because he does not like being impolite about others, perhaps because he is worried that someone may overhear him etc).

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