e-Politeness

E-learning week has always been another recess week for me. It is a time when tons of assignments can be done. A time when I can have my beauty sleep. A time when the home is the school. A time when lectures tend to be non-examinable. A time when I’m the most polite (since I’m away from the stressful school). But once school commence as usual, what you get is what you see below. :)

Politeness can come in many forms, from thoughts to words and from words to actions. Politeness can project the cultivation and charisma of a person. It can also show how close (in terms of relationship) two persons are. Let’s try to identify some of the relationships among people and their likely linguistic politeness.

Between Close Friends
Tact maxim tends to be prominent as we start to take things for granted. Haha...

Between Subordinates/Students and Supervisor/Professors
Generosity Maxim sits in this relationship as the former tends to give their utmost respect to the later.

Between New Friends
Approbation Maxim dovetails with this relationship as one would like to establish good rapport with the others in hope to extend their friendship.

Between Guests and Hosts
Modesty Maxim dominates this relationship as most hosts would like their guests to feel superior and homely.

During Meetings
Agreement Maxim is common in meetings when its close to 6pm. It is also the best strategy to adopt when one does not have a better option to agree upon.


To conclude, politeness can be used to one’s advantage but can also be a pain in the a*s when used inappropriately as shown in the video below. Enjoy…