Underpinning the Foolery Concept of OBJ and IBB: The Gricean Conversational Maxims Perspective

Abstract

The Gricean conversational maxims posit that all conversations follow a basic set of rules, which people use to express themselves when speaking. The four basic rules (maxims) include quality, quantity, relation, and manner. Failure to observe any or all of these maxims results in conversational implicature. In this paper, we explore the possibility of fitting the foolery concept of OBJ and IBB into the Gricean theoretical framework; determine the extent to which it obeys the cooperative principles, and the implications for leadership in the nation’s evolving democratic culture. From the analysis, the claims of OBJ and IBB about one another as former Presidents of Nigeria violate the cooperative principles thus leading to conversational implicature. This by implication runs contrary to the proper use of language in the contemporary Nigerian environment. The foregoing imposes urgent demand on OBJ and IBB to refrain from expletives and mudslinging quite demeaning and unworthy of the status of former Presidents of Nigeria and foster a kind of national leadership that encourages temperance in the use of language in inter-personal communications.

Keywords: conversational maxims, cooperative principles, fool, IBB, language, OBJ.