At most family dinners it is common for someone to bring up a topic that not everyone shares the same opinions on. Guest (A) brings up a controversial topic, one that if someone responded could cause an issue or doesn’t want to get involved in the conversation at hand. For example, Guest (A) may be bringing up politics at the table, which is notably a touchy subject for some. Guest (B) can intentionally disobey a maxim as long as he or she provides enough context indicators for the hearer to notice. This is called flouting a maxim and is used to indirectly express information. The maxim that Guest (B) violates is the maxim of relation. Guest (B) could say “The stuffing is great!”By saying something like such, it allows us to avoid confrontation directly and imply something (such as getting off topic) without having to keep going at a potentially argumentative conversation.

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