<div><div>An investigation into the flouting of conversational maxims employed by male and female guests in the American talk show "The Ellen Show"

Abstract

Grice’s maxims are basic rules for interlocutors to follow in conversations. Nevertheless, when the speaker intentionally makes the hearer look for the real meaning beyond what is said implicitly, (s)he employs conversational maxim flouting. This article aims at investigating types of conversational maxim flouting and rhetorical strategies employed by male and female guests in the American talk show “The Ellen Show” and discovering similarities and differences in terms of the flouting of conversational maxims between two genders. The study design is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches and the application of descriptive and contrastive methods. The samples including 72 maxim flouting situations for each gender were selected from the Interviews section on the official channel of The Ellen Show. The findings reveal that although both genders share some similarities concerning the pragmatic features of maxim flouting, each gender reflects its own tendency of language style in communication.