Abstract
Abstract In this article, I examine patient complaints and folk wisdom in the context of doctor-patient communication in Eastern Ecuador. The study specifically focuses on implied information in complaints to physicians and on folk-medical advice in which speakers mean something different from what they state literally. Data were obtained from Spanish-speaking medical personnel as well as from participant observation over a period of years. Physicians initially experienced cross-cultural misunderstandings with patients; however, with experience, they were able to work out the meaning of implicatures to diagnose and treat disease appropriately. The discussion particularly draws from Grice's (1975) maxims and resulting implicatures to describe how common complaints and folk wisdom may be realized and interpreted. The study demonstrates the importance of understanding context in order to comprehend patients' messages.
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