EXPLOITING PRAGMATIC RULES: DEVIOUS MESSAGES

Consideration of the relationship between semantics and pragmatics leads to a formal analysis of pragmatic implications customarily made by auditors in this culture. The analysis isolates four types of responses to yes-no demand questions: (1) explication, (2) prepositional implication, (3) relational implication, and (4) transparent question. It further shows how the latter three types can be exploited by devious communicators and proposes some possible social extensions of the system.