Maxim of Joke Telling

In humor, funniness takes place when there is a violation of Grice’s maxims. Clark and Clark’s (1977: 123) give an example of verbal humor that deliberately violates most of the Grice’s maxims.

Steven: Wilfred is meeting a woman for dinner tonight.

Susan :  Does his wife know about it?

Steven:  Of course she does. The woman he is meeting is his wife.

Clark and Clark stated that Steven violated the maxim of quantity when he used the expression “a woman” for “his wife”, or he was not being as informative as he could have been. In fact, Steven violated all four maxims. He violated the maxim of quality since he knew he was saying something that was not true (a wife is not just a woman). He violated the maxim of relation (Clark (1977) and Raskin (1985) use the term relation for the maxim of relevance while Hattim (1990) uses the term maxim of relevance which means the same) since “a woman” that was connected to an adult male, according to Lackoff as quoted by Soedjatmiko (1988: 16) implies sexuality and never means “wife”. Steven violated maxim of manner for not speaking clearly, or by intentionally speaking ambiguously.

Raskin (1985:103) states there are maxims on which the cooperative principle for non-bona-fide-communication mode (the condition in which the ambiguities occur) of telling jokes is based. Those Maxims are Maxim of Quantity, Maxim of Quality, Maxim of Relation, and Maxim of Manner.

 Maxim of Quantity requires the speaker to give exactly as much information as necessary for the joke. According to Veatch, the general condition of this maxim is violated in jokes. In general, maxim of Quantity requires the speaker to give information as is required; however, in the maxim of Quantity for jokes telling, information which is given by the speaker is violated.

             Example:

             A: “Excuse me! Do you know what time it is?”

             B: “Yes”

This conversation becomes funny because B’s reply violates maxim of Quantity by answering ‘yes’. Actually, A’s question can be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. However, what is intended by A is that the exact time instead of want to know whether B knows what time it is.

 Maxim of Quality requires the speaker to say only compatible with the world of the joke. According to Veatch, the general condition of this maxim is violated in jokes. In general, maxim of Quality requires the speaker not to say what is false and lacks of evidence; however, in maxim of Quality for the jokes telling, what is said by the speaker is false and lacks of evidence.

 Example

 A: “Why did the vice president fly to Panama?”

 B:  “Because the fighting is over.”

This conversation is considered to be funny because B violates maxim of Quality. In this case, B lacks evidence of the flying of the President to Panama. Perhaps, the President has another reason not because the fighting was over.

Maxim of Relation requires the speaker to say only relevant to the joke. According to Veatch, the general condition of this maxim is violated in jokes. In general, maxim of Relation requires the speaker to be relevant; however, in maxim of Relation for jokes speaker is irrelevant.

            Example

            A: “How many surrealists does it take to screw in light bulb?”

            B: “Fish!”

                        This conversation is funny because B’s answer is not related. The answer which is expected by A is the number of surrealist not fish. There is no relation between surrealist and fish; therefore, this conversation relevant to the joke.

            Maxim of Manner requires the speaker to tell the joke efficiently. According to Veatch, the general condition of this maxim is violated in jokes. In general, maxim of Manner requires the speaker to avoid obscurity and ambiguity; however, in maxim of Manner for the jokes the speaker use obscurity and ambiguity expression.

            Example

            A: “Do you believe in clubs for young people?”

            B:  “Only when kindness fails.”

            This joke based on the homonymic relation between club (for organization for people who share a particular interest) and club (a thick heavy stick used to hit people or things) A is asking about club in the first sense, whereas B is responding to A’s question using the second sense of club. A is asking whether B thinks that organizations for young people are helpful, whereas B responds to the question ‘Do you believe in disciplining young people using corporal punishment?’ In this case the word “clubs” is ambiguous.

            Based on this cooperative principle the hearer does not expect the speaker to tell the truth or to convey any relevant information in the conversation in which the speaker is being engaged.

            The communication can fail when the speaker violates principle which is formulated by Grice. A humor can fail if the maxims of non-bona-fide communication are not abided by.