Section

8.2 Communication Breakdown

Study the cartoon and answer questions A-C.

Questions

A.In Linguistics, pp. 372-377, the strategies for literal and direct communication are outlined. At what stage has communication broken down?

B.Given the context of utterance, is it likely that communication would indeed break down? Why or why not?

C.If you argued in question B that it is unlikely that communication would have broken down, then discuss the following question: Does the Message Model have any way of capturing the unlikelihood of communication breaking down in this kind of case? Why or why not? (Review Linguistics, pp. 363-370.)

Name

Section

8.3 Literal/Nonliteral Use

Question

A speaker could utter each of the following sentences with the intention of communicating either literally or nonliterally. For at least five of them, state at least two meanings (at least one of which should be literal and at least one of which should be nonliteral) that a speaker could have in mind in using the sentence.

For example: They are on the way out. (1) They refers to some people who are leaving the room. (2) They refers to some shoes that were fashionable last fall but are going out of style.

1.He is on the edge.

2.We're in the same boat.

3.I have my hands full.

4.He didn't get to first base.

5.She broke his heart.

6.That will keep them on their toes.

7.She's losing her grip.

8.He flew off the handle.

9.She blew off steam.

10.Barbara got under her skin.

11.Sue is tied up.

12.He refused to lay his cards on the table.

13.She bit Mary's head OK

14.She gives it to him straight.

15.They beat their brains out.

16.That rings a bell.

17.I got the picture.

18.He'll change his tune.

19.That is right up my alley.

20.He is on the ball.

21.She is standing on her own two feet.

22.He always takes it with a grain of salt.

23.My father is a wet blanket.

24.He will sink or swim.

25.You took the words right out of my mouth.

26.That movie was a real turkey!