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Assumptions in Applicant
Task F – Our answer
To ask whether someone is a virgin or not is something which prototypically
applies to females, although it has been extended to males in the 20th
century in particular. But to use the Latin expression ‘virgo intacta’
seems to tie the question in turn 47 pretty firmly to females (it relates
to whether or not the vaginal hymen is intact), and so for Miss Piffs
to ask this question of a young man is very strange indeed. It seems to
presuppose that he is female or has female genitalia. That said, the question
does not appear to be absurd to Mr. Lamb, but merely embarrassing. So,
as with ‘falling coat’ there is a big presuppositional clash
between (a) the world of the two characters together and (b) the world
of the audience.
When Miss Piffs asks ‘have you always been virgo intacta?’
in turn 53, she is being presuppositionally absurd in a different way.
It is part of the definition of being a virgin that you must always have
been a virgin. You can’t switch virginity on and off like a light.
So the question is presuppositionally absurd (even though Mr. Lamb answers
it affirmatively!). This absurd presuppositional clash between the world
of the characters and the world of the audience is then made even more
peculiar through the stylistically inappropriate phrasing of ‘from
the word go’, which is a metaphor derived from athletics that is
usually used in informal contexts.
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