Why don’t people just say what they mean?
Why can’t they be direct and clear?
It takes a Harvard professor to explain:
Language as a Window into Human Nature. Steven Pinker (video)
Words Don’t Mean What They Mean. Steven Pinker. Time magazine, Sep. 06, 2007.
The logic of indirect speech. Steven Pinker, Martin A. Nowak, and James J. Lee. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(3), 833-838, 2008.
Rationales for Indirect Speech: The Theory of the Strategic Speaker. James J. Lee and Steven Pinker. Psychological Review, 117(3), 785–807, 2010.
Polite = Indirect. Dr. Mary Shapiro
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