Embrace Indirectness

Indirect speech acts are commonly used not only to reject proposals but also to make requests. The request initiated through an indirect speech act means that it was created in disguise usually with the purpose to look polite. That being said, I would like to bring to attention that decent people are taught to watch their manners early in childhood. This is the main reason why they are making polite request spontaneously, and the indirect speech acts are there to help them in doing that.

As an example, we can describe the situation on the dinner table when somebody asks:” Is there any salt?” – It is obvious that he or she doesn’t ask about the presence of salt on the table, but requests to be offered more salt.

Additionally, sometimes this kind of indirect speech act perhaps could be reinforced with the word “please”, as for instance: “May I have some water, please?” – And there is a request when someone passes the glass of water to the person that requested it.

Polite requests in disguise of indirect speech act often could be sweetened with an intensifying word such as the example in the following sentence: “Sweetie, I am thirsty.” – In which the speaker asks obviously for a glass of water but doesn’t mention it directly. This kind of requests is generally made with close members of the family.

In the above-mentioned examples, we can see how participants use indirect speech acts in order to request something in a polite manner. However, a question mark usually establishes a nicer tone, as it is always nicer to be asked to do something rather be told.

In conclusion, indirect speech acts are used as a means to alleviate communication. According to many, this sort of behavior is learned from the earliest age.