Speech Acts

Source:  Borderline by Jeanette Farr
                             http://www.10-minute-plays.com/dramas/borderline.html

Relation: RR: Chapter 4 Language and Thought

Commentary:
   
               Recently, I saw a short play by Jeanette Farr entitled Borderline. I have included a link to a copy of the play online, its short, funny and a good read if you are interested. The plot of this play focuses on miscommunications caused by language barriers. Miguel is an apparent white drug/sex dealer and Mykal is an illegal immigrant looking for a job. The trouble starts when Mykal asks for a job he can do with his hands and Miguel assumes Mykal is looking for sex. While this sets up a hilarious situation for the audience, it exemplifies speech acts in our society and how different meanings are placed on a word. While Mykal thought he was totally innocent in asking for a job, he was not aware of the different meanings of the word. This type of giving different meanings to innocent phrases has also become popular in today's society with the familiar "thats what she said" jokes. Made famous by the NBC comedy The Office, these jokes take normal phrases and put them in a sexual context.  For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRV2NQKPGIs. These jokes "work" because of the shock value and twisting of our words. We aren't intending to say something inappropriate and when someone says "that's what she said", the joke is on us.


To end, I have two quotes for you:

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.
Henry Ward Beecher



And...

Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.
E. B. White



Think about it!