[lit-ideas] Re: "Sure" (Was: Jenny)
- From: "T E Fjeld" <torgfje2@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 18:09:14 +0200
On 5 Sep 2004 at 8:19, Ceridwen Harris wrote:
> A; Do you mind if I smoke? -( Politely asking permission to smoke)
>
> B: Sure ( acknowledges not the sentence but the intent behind it,
> hence the response 'Sure' -= ' Certainly you may, go ahead' , politely
> giving permission).
>
> The second speaker is responding to the unspoken..both speakers are
> using formulae. This is as Robert Paul describes the situation.
But how to determine the intention (sing.)? How well acquianted are we
with A, one wonders?
-tor
--
T E Fjeld
Roehampton University
http://home.no.net/torgfje/
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