Flouting and Violating Maxims

The philosopher H.P. Grice introduced the "Cooperative Principle," which argues that for conversations to work smoothly, humans unconsciously follow four rational rules, or "maxims": Quality (do not lie), Quantity (give exactly the right amount of information), Relation (stay relevant), and Manner (be clear).

However, the beauty of human language is that we break these rules all the time. When a speaker violates a maxim, they break the rule secretly with the malicious intention to deceive the listener, such as telling a deliberate lie. On the other hand, when a speaker flouts a maxim, they break the rule openly and blatantly, fully expecting the listener to notice. When a maxim is flouted, the listener searches for a hidden, implied meaning called an "implicature." If you ask your friend if they like your terrible new haircut, and they slowly say, "Well... your shoes are very nice," they have openly flouted the rule of relevance to imply that they hate your haircut, delivering the message politely without lying.