[lit-ideas] Between the Esophagus and the Duodenum
- From: "" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 16:52:38 -0400 (EDT)
The third Griceian cartoon strip in today's newspaper is "GARFIELD".
First Square:
Cat Owner looks at empty fish bowl.
Second Square:
Cat Owner to Cat: Garfield, where is my fish?
Third Square:
Cat (thinking): By now? Somewhere between the esophagus and the duodenum.
---
Griceian explanation:
"Where's my fish?" is almost a rhetorical question.
Garfield takes it literally. This is a bit like a Griceian misunderstanding
in today's "Dustin" comic strip ("Reserved parking for shoppers with
children") and it seems, all'Attalardo, that Grice was a literalist (as was
Austin), and humour exploits this.
"Exploit" was one of Grice's favourite verbs -- as 'otiose' was one of his
favourite (if not HIS favourite) adjective.
Cheers,
Speranza
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