AMBIGUITY AND FLOUTING OF GRICEAN MAXIMS IN
SEXUAL HUMOR FOUND IN CBS’
2 BROKE GIRLS:
EPISODES 1-2 OF SEASONS 1-5
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
NOVITA SARI
Student Number: 134214147
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
AMBIGUITY AND FLOUTING OF GRICEAN MAXIMS IN
SEXUAL HUMOR FOUND IN CBS’
2 BROKE GIRLS:
EPISODES 1-2 OF SEASONS 1-5
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
NOVITA SARI
Student Number: 134214147
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vii
“I can do
everything through
Christ who gives
me strength.”
viii
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to Jesus Christ for His endless love. I believe without His strength and blessing, I would not be able to finish my thesis. My humblest gratitude goes to my thesis advisor Arina Isti’anah, S. Pd., M. Hum., for her precious time in improving my analysis and her guidance in encouraging me to accomplish my thesis on time patiently. I also would like to thank my co-advisor Scolastica Wedhowerti, S.Pd., M. Hum., for her patience and helpful advices.
The accomplishment of this thesis would not be viable without the support from my humble dad, Drs. Icu Manggolo and my amazing mom, Martha Leviana, S.E., Ak., CA, BKP, whose support and love are beyond compare. Thank you for always believing me. A bunch of gratitude goes to my sisters-by-love, Stefani Veronika and Sesilia Gisela for giving me many memorable experiences and understanding me more than I do. I would like also thank Sony Christanto for being the best partner-in-crime and teaching me good lessons in life.
Last but not least, I thank everyone whose name cannot be mentioned one by one. Thank you for helping and supporting me during the completion of this thesis. Thank you for the memories we share together. May God always be with you.
x
A.Background of the Study ...1
B. Problem Formulation ...5
C.Objectives of the Study ...5
D.Definition of Terms ...6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...8
A.Review of Related Studies ...8
B. Review of Related Theories ...11
C.Theoretical Framework...21
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...22
A.Object of the Study ...22
B. Approach of the Study ...23
C.Method of Study ...24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS (RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION) ...29
A.Expressions Containing Ambiguities and Flouting of Gricean Maxims in Creating Sexual Humor in 2 Broke Gilrs: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5 ...29
1. Ambiguity ...30
2. Flouting of Gricean Maxims ...32
B. The Way Ambiguities and Flouting of Gricean Maxims Create Sexual Humor in 2 Broke Gilrs: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5 ...35
1. Ambiguity ...35
a. Lexical Ambiguity ...35
b. Referential Ambiguity ...43
2. Floutings of Gricean Maxims ...50
a. Flouting of Gricean Maxims of Quanity ...50
b. Flouting of Gricean Maxims of Quality ...55
xi
d. Flouting of Gricean Maxims of Manner ...59
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...62
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...64
APPENDICES ...67
Appendix 1: Data for Lexical Ambiguity ...67
Appendix 2: Data for Referential Ambiguity ...72
Appendix 3: Data for Floutings of Maxim of Quantity ...74
Appendix 4: Data for Floutings of Maxim of Quality ...76
Appendix 5: Data for Floutings of Maxim of Relation ...77
xii
People react and enjoy humor. Not only can humor be found in everyday circumstances, but also in a sitcom. Humor has been an arresting topic to many researchers. According to Ross (1998: 63), the most enjoyed humor is related to taboo issues such as sex. Thus, this research focuses on sexual humor in CBS’ 2 Broke Girls: episodes 1-2 of seasons 1-2. Several strategies are used in order to
provoke sexual humor. Ambiguous words are implied in order to create the sexual connotation to certain words. Moreover, flouting Gricean maxims can be one of strategies to provoke sexual humor.
There are two problems formulated in this study. The first problem lies on the ambiguous expressions and flouting of Gricean maxims found in the episodes of CBS’ 2 Broke Girls which imply sexual humor. The research data are
categorized according to each type of classification. The second problem elaborates ambiguities and flouting of Gricean maxims in creating sexual humor to the episodes.
The data collection was done using a purposive sampling method which means the utterances not containing sexual humor would be discharged. For the analysis, this study used a semantic approach for analyzing the ambiguous expression. Moreover, a pragmatic approach is used for studying the floutings of Gricean maxims in the episodes.
The discussions are divided into two parts of strategies which are the use of ambiguity and flouting of Gricean maxims. First, twenty five expressions are found using ambiguity. For further examination, the expressions are classified based on three types of ambiguity, lexical, referential, and syntactical. Sixteen expressions are classified as lexical ambiguity, nine expressions classified as referential ambiguity, and no expression using syntactic ambiguity. Second, fourteen floutings of Gricean maxims are found to the episodes which are classified into four types of Gricean maxims. There are eight expressions which flout Gricean maxims of quantity, one expression flouting Gricean maxims of quality, two expressions flouting Gricean maxims of relation, and one expression flouting Gricean maxims of manner.
xiii ABSTRAK
SARI, NOVITA. AMBIGUITY AND FLOUTING OF GRICEAN MAXIMS
IN SEXUAL HUMOR FOUND IN CBS’ 2 BROKE GIRLS: EPISODES 1-2
OF SEASONS 1-5. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.
Orang merespons dan menikmati humor. Humor tidak hanya ditemukan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, namun dalam komedi situasi (sitcom). Humor telah menjadi topik yang menarik bagi banyak peneliti. Menurut Ross (1998: 63), humor yang paling disenangi oleh sebagian besar kalangan adalah humor yang mengangkat isu tabu seperti seksualitas. Penelitian ini berfokus pada humor seksual dalam komedi situasi (sitcom) yang ditayangkan di CBS berjudul 2 Broke
Girls, episode 1-2 dari season 1-2. Beberapa strategi digunakan sebagai pemicu
humor seksual. Penggunaan kata taksa ganda yang mengimplikasikan konotasi seksual dan melakukan pelanggaran (flouting) prinsip kerjasama dapat menjadi salah satu strategi untuk menciptakan humor seksual.
Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua rumusan masalah. Yang pertama berkaitan dengan kata taksa dan melakukan pelanggaran (flouting) prinsip kerjasama dalam episode 2 Broke Girls yang menyiratkan humor seksual. Hasil penelitian dikategorikan menurut tipe dari strategi yang digunakan. Yang kedua berkaitan dengan penjelasan kata-kata taksa dan pelanggaran (flouting) prinsip kerjasama yang menciptakan humor seksual.
Pengumpulan data tersebut menggunakan teknik purposive sampling yang berarti bahwa tuturan yang tidak mengandung humor seksual tidak akan digunakan dalam studi ini. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan semantik untuk menganalisis kata-kata bermakna ganda. Dalam studi ini juga digunakan pendekatan pragmatik untuk menganalisis pelanggaran (flouting) prinsip kerjasama.
Terdapat dua bagian diskusi sesuai dengan strategi yang digunakan. Yang pertama, terdapat 25 kata yang mengunakan kata taksa yang dikategorikan dalam tiga jenis, yaitu 16 kata taksa secara leksikal (lexical), 9 kata taksa secara referensial (referential) dan 0 kata taksa secara struktural (syntactical). Yang kedua, terdapat 14 pelanggaran (flouting) prinsip kerjasama yang diklasifikasikan menjadi empat jenis prinsip kerjasama, yaitu 8 tuturan yang melanggar (flouting) prinsip kerjasama kuantitas (quantity), 1 tuturan yang melanggar (flouting) prinsip kerjasama kualitas (quality), 2 tuturan melanggar (flouting) prinsip kerjasama hubungan (relation), dan 1 tuturan melanggar (flouting) prinsip kerjasama cara (manner).
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A.Background of the Study
People, as social human beings, talk to each other every day in every occasion. Whether it is asking about time, talking about hobbies, or sharing experiences, they communicate. They use language as their medium to communicate and socialize with each other. By using language, they can exchange information, knowledge, feeling, opinion, and many others. Language is an
essential property in human beings’ life since it is used to maintain interactions.
People do not always talk about their hobbies, experiences or business. People sometimes also react to jokes and humor by laughing (Chiaro, 1996: 5). According to Gruner, as cited by Schwarz (2010: 20), “Without laughter everyday living becomes drab and lifeless; life would seem hardly human at all. Likewise, a sense of humor is generally considered a person’s most admirable attribute.” Referring to Schwarz’s opinion towards humor implies on how humor has special place in human being’s life.
As cited by Raskin (1979: 326), Aristotle argues that humor as a symbol of human fault, but not in a serious way. Moreover, one of many types of humor which is considered more amusing among many others is sexual humor (Chiaro, 1996: 8). Chiaro’s argument is supported by Lesmana (2015: 50) by stating,
according to Grunner, as cited by Lesmana (2015: 50), what makes sexual humor become the most interesting is because of the combination of sex and aggression.
This study examines one of language phenomenon in social communication, which is sexual humor. Studies on sexual humor have attracted many researchers for centuries. A humor can be called as sexual humor due to several words in the humor whose meanings lead to sexual connotations or meaning. For instance, the verb ‘arouse’ can be interpreted more than one meaning. According to the eight edition of Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (OALD), there are four different meanings of the word ‘arouse’ and one of its meanings has sexual connotations.
According to OALD (2015: 66), the first meaning of the verb ‘arouse’ is
‘to make somebody have a particular feeling or attitude’. The second meaning is
‘to make somebody feel sexually excited’. The third meaning is ‘to make you feel
more active and want to start doing something’. The last meaning is ‘(formal) to
wake somebody from sleep’.
The study of words which has more than one meaning or known as ambiguous words can be analyzed using semantics. Semantics is the study of meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. It focuses on how grammatical process contributes to the literal meaning. According to Cicero, as cited by Attardo (1994: 27), one of the linguistic aspects in creating humor is by using ambiguous expressions.
exchange information properly. In order to conduct a communication activity, four ingredients are required. They are users, messages, a code, and a signal (Burton, Déchaine, and Vatikiotis-Bateson, 2000: 21). Basically, messages are delivered by language users to each other by encoding messages into a signal. In addition, to make communication work, language users have to cooperate with each other. They have to transmit messages that are related to the context they are engaged with in order to maintain a good cooperation. For example, there is no misunderstanding which occurs during one’s conversation.
In conversation, there is an interaction between language users who are a speaker(s) and a hearer(s). The study of how the meaning in the conversation between the speaker and the hearer relates to the context they are in is called
pragmatics. Pragmatics discusses people’s intended meaning, their assumptions,
and their purposes (Yule, 1996: 4). In addition, to make communication work, the speaker has to avoid ambiguous expression which can invoke to unintended different meaning conveyed by the speaker.
In everyday life, however, there occurs many occasions where people do not adhere to Gricean Maxims. When both speakers and hearers blatantly do not adhere to Gricean maxims, yet they have no intention to mislead, it is called flouting Gricean maxims. For instance, sometimes both speakers and hearers obviously give too much or too little information required in the conversation. Moreover, they also use ambiguous expressions in conversation which lead to misunderstanding.
Humor can be found not only in everyday circumstances, but also in television situational comedy (sitcom). Television sitcom deals with a small cast of characters creating humorous situations in order to entertain the audiences. It
involves a story about someone’s trouble. According to Chiaro (1996: 7), sitcom
portrays people’s misfortunes which evoke laughter. The more detailed analysis of
this study is sexual humor content in a sitcom. Nowadays, the content of the sitcom may vary. There are family, friendships, and also sexuality, however western society consider dirty jokes (sexual jokes) more amusing (Chiaro, 1996: 8).
This study is also conducted to examine the contribution of ambiguous expressions and not adhere of Gricean maxims to a sexual humor in a sitcom. The sitcom used as the data is entitled 2 Broke Girls. 2 Broke Girls was first aired in 2011 until present. It has won People’s Choice Awards as Favorite New TV Comedy in 2012.
2 Broke Girls, aired in CBS, is an American sitcom which tells about Max
writer chooses this sitcom because most of the jokes uttered by the casts are sexual humor and are created by using ambiguous expressions and not adhering to Gricean maxims. Here, the writer tries to analyze the language strategies to create sexual humor in the utterances of 2 Broke Girls’ casts.
B.Problem Formulation
In order to limit the subject of the discussion, there are two problems formulated as follow:
1. What ambiguities and flouting of Gricean maxims are found in the expressions containing sexual humor in the episodes?
2. How do those ambiguities and flouting of Gricean maxims create sexual humor in the episodes?
C.Objectives of the Study
D.Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding, it is necessary to explain several key terms used in this study. There are three significant terms that will be defined: sexual humor, ambiguity, and flouting of Gricean maxims. Sexual humor can be defined as humor which contains issues about sex. As cited by Lesmana (2015: 50), humor about sex is the most popular. The topic of sex is considered as taboo for some people, thus humor implicitly uses sex in order to be a tool to educate and smooth the nerves (Lesmana, 2015: 50). One of which stimulates the sexual humor is ambiguous expressions by using one particular word that has sexual
connotations such word ‘banana’ and ‘cucumber’ (Ross, 1998: 65).
Ambiguity is one word which has more than one interpretation. It is classified into three kinds of ambiguity which are lexical, referential, and syntactic ambiguity. Lexical ambiguity occurs when one word carries more than one meaning. The use of homonyms word often lead to lexical ambiguity. The word such as the noun ‘bear’ which means ‘kind of animal’, and the verb ‘bear’ which
means ‘accept’ both are pronounced as /beər/. In order to understand the real
meaning, looking at the context is necessary. Referential ambiguity carries more than one referring meaning. Meanwhile, syntactic ambiguity occurs when one sentence gives more than one meaning.
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A.Review of Related Studies
The review of related studies is taken from three previous studies conducting the same topic. The first study is “The Violations of Conversational Maxims of Cooperative Principle in Creating the Humorous Situation in the Thin
Blue Line Season 1 Episode 3: Honey Trap” which was conducted by Winata
(2012). In this study, Winata examines kinds of conversational maxim violations in the conversation and how the violations of conversational maxims in sitcom create humorous situation. The sitcom which is chosen for the data source from which the data are taken is Thin Blue Line. The writer chooses this sitcom as the object of the study because there is a relation between violations of conversational maxim to humorous situation.
Based on Winata’s analysis, thirty four violations of conversational maxims are found in the conversations that create humorous situation. Moreover, the writer argues that to create humorous situation through violating conversational maxims is by making the incongruent meaning or idea between
audiences’ expectation and what actually happens in the conversation, by showing
the feeling of hostility from some persons, and by making one person feels liberated to talk about taboo thing.
Related to Winata’s study, this present study’s aim is also to examine the
applies conversational maxim theory suggested by Grice which is the same theory as used by Winata. In addition, the similarity of this present study to Winata’s study lies on the data taken from utterances in a sitcom.
On the other hand, there are also some differences between two studies. The first difference lies on the data source from which the data are taken. The data used by Winata are taken from a sitcom entitled Thin Blue Line Season 1 Episode 3: Honey Trap. Meanwhile, the data of the present study are taken from the conversations in a sitcom called 2 Broke Girls. The second difference is the aim of Winata’s study lies on how violations of conversational maxims create the
humorous situation. On the other hand, the present study’s aim is to examine the strategies used in creating sexual humor to the sitcom. The strategies used are analyzed using semantic and pragmatic approaches. Thus, this study’s aim is for a specific outcome.
The second study is “Investigating Lexical and Structural Ambiguity in the
Reader’s Forum Section of The Jakarta Post Newspaper” which was conducted
by Utami (2013). In this study, Utami examines ambiguity in mass media in the Reader’s Forum section of The Jakarta Post newspaper. In this study, the writer
uses qualitative study and she examines words, phrases, and sentences of the data. She finds fifty four ambiguities which consist of forty seven ambiguous words and seven ambiguous phrases. In this study, the writer also classifies the ambiguous lexical items to their part of speech.
According to Utami’s study, the mostly ambiguous lexical item used based
by homonymy and polysemy. Utami’s undergraduate thesis can be related to this recent study because this recent study also examines the ambiguous expressions. Utami’s study contributes to the recent study on identifying lexical and structural
ambiguity to the data. However, between these two studies, the difference lies on the data. The recent study uses the ambiguous expressions as the data which are taken from conversations in an American television situational comedy entitled 2
Broke Girls.
The third study is “Humorous Situations Created by Violations and Floutings of Conversational Maxims in a Situation Comedy Entitled How I Met
Your Mother” which was conducted by Amiana (2016). In this study, the writer
analyzes humorous situation which happens from violating and flouting conversational maxims. The data taken for this study are the conversations which occur in situation comedy entitled How I Met Your Mother Season 2 Episode 1 to 5. The writer identifies the types of violations and floutings of conversational maxims which occur in the conversations between the characters in the sitcom. In addition, the writer also examines how the humorous situation is created from flouting conversational maxim.
In this study, Amiana uses pragmatic approach in order to analyze the violations and floutings of conversational maxims in the sitcom. Moreover, humor theory is used in examining the humorous situation which is created from violating and flouting the conversational maxims. According to Amiana’s study,
writer finds that there are three different ways of how the humorous situations which occur.
Amiana’s undergraduate thesis can be related to the recent study because
the two analyze floutings of the conversational maxims in creating humorous situation in a sitcom. However, there are the differences found between two studies. The first difference lies on the data taken for the data source. In Amiana’s
study a sitcom entitled How I Met Your Mother is used as the data source. On the other hand, the conversations in 2 Broke Girls are taken as the data source. Moreover, the second difference is the recent study examines not only the violations of the conversational maxim but also ambiguous expressions occur in the data source. Thus, this study’s objective is more extensive than Amiana’s
study, for it analyzes not only floutings of Gricean maxims, but also the ambiguous expressions found to the data.
B.Review of Related Theories 1. Semantics
a. Ambiguity
Ambiguity is classified into three kinds, which are lexical ambiguity, referential ambiguity, and syntactical ambiguity. Lexical ambiguity occurs when two homonym words occurs in one sentence (Kreidler, 1998: 55). Homonyms are words which are different but pronounced or spelt the same. According to Victoria, Blair, and Collins (2000), words which are homonymous can create ambiguity. Here is the example of homonymous words leading to ambiguity,
Example:
‘How is bread made?’
‘I know that!’ Alice cried eagerly. ‘You take some flour—‘
‘Where do you pick the flower?’ the White Queen asked. ‘In a garden, or in
the hedges?’
‘Well, it isn’t picked at all,’ Alice explained; ‘it is ground—‘ ‘How many acres of ground?’ said the White Queen.
(Victoria et al, 2000: 156)
In the example above, there is a conversation occurs between Alice and the White Queen. The White Queen asks Alice about how the bread is made. Alice
answers by taking some ‘flour’ /flaʊɚ/ which is understood by the White Queen
as ‘flower’ /ˈflaʊ.ɚ/. The words ‘flour’ and ‘flower’ are homonyms because they
have same pronunciation. These words create lexical ambiguity because it can be understood in more than one meaning.
Referential ambiguity occurs when “a speaker has one referent in mind for a
definite expression” (Kreidler, 1998: 151). For instance is the sentence ‘Mary told
meaning (Kreidler, 1998: 169). According to Kreidler (1998: 169), syntactic ambiguity occurs when a sentence contains the coordinators ‘and’ and ‘or’ such as
John and Mary or Pat will go. In this sentence, the meaning can be [John and Mary] as one team or Pat will go. In addition, this sentence can also be interpreted as John and [Mary or Pat] will go.
2. Pragmatics
Pragmatics is the study of meaning in a speaker and a hearer communication (Yule, 1996: 3). It focuses on how to make conversation work and how to use language in order to relate to the surrounding context. Pragmatics is context-dependent which means that to understand utterances, it cannot be understood separately from the utterances’ the context.
According to Yule (1996:3), there are four meanings of pragmatics. First, pragmatics is the study of meaning. This means that pragmatics is more than just analyzing what people’s intended meaning is. Pragmatics also examines what the words or phrases in those utterances might convey. Second, pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning. This means that pragmatics includes the interpretation of what people mean in a particular context and how the context affects to what is said. Three, pragmatics is the study of how what is communicated is more than is said. This means that pragmatics explores how hearer can interpret the utterances in order to get the speaker’s intended meaning.
From the definition mentioned by the linguists above, it can be concluded that pragmatics is the study of utterances meaning in a particular context. Thus, by understanding the study of pragmatics, “one can talk about people’s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes, and the kinds of actions they perform when they speak” (Yule, 1996: 4).
3. Context
According to Yule (1996: 3), pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning. In order to understand what is being said by the speaker, observing the context the conversation occurs is essential. Basically, there are three kinds of context to be
observed. The first is situational context which is “the immediate physical
co-presence, the situation where the interaction is taking place at the moment of speaking.” (Cutting, 2002: 4). Here is the example of situational context,
Example:
A male lecturer from London is explaining a mathematical problem to a male pupil from London, named Berkam:
Lecturer : Forty-nine? Why do you say forty-nine? Pupil : Cos there’s another one here.
Lecturer : Right, we’ve got forty-nine there, haven’t we? But here there’s two, okay?
(Cutting, 2002: 4)
In the conversation above, it is clearly that the situational context is the classroom. The words ‘there’ and ‘here’ are understood by them because they are
able to see the situation during the conversation.
The other type of background knowledge context is interpersonal knowledge. Interpersonal knowledge is mostly specific and refers about the speakers themselves (Cutting, 2002: 5). For instance there are a woman and a man who have been a colleague for 9 years. The man knows that the woman has married and has a son. This interpersonal knowledge that the man knows about the woman is required for their interactions toward each other.
4. Implicature
Implicature is a term used to define the meaning of beyond what is being said, or when a hearer understands what is said to be what is meant (Thomas, 2013: 56). In the other words, implicature or conversational implicature is an additional unstated meaning uttered by a speaker that has to be assumed by a hearer. According to Yule (1996: 40-43), conversational implicature is classified into two types which are generalized conversational implicatures and particularized conversational implicature. The first type occurs when there is no special knowledge needed in the context to understand the conveyed meaning. For instance when A says “I see a beautiful dress”, the implicature is that the dress is
not A’s which if the dress is A’s, A would have be more specific by saying my
dress. The second type occurs when very specific context is required in order to understand the conveyed meaning.
Example:
Leila : Whoa! Has your boss gone crazy? Mary : Let’s go get some coffee.
In the example above, Mary’s response seem to flout the maxim of
relevance. Mary cannot answer the question in that context presumably because the boss may be nearby. Therefore, Leila has to infer the implicature uttered by Marry who makes non-relevant response.
5. Flouting of Gricean Maxims
Flouting of Gricean maxims occurs when the speaker blatantly fails to observe the Gricean Maxim and does not have any intention to mislead the hearers (Thomas, 1995: 65). They try to prompt implicature from their utterances. Flouting of Gricean maxims are classified into four categories, which are as follows:
a. Flouting Gricean Maxim of Quantity
In flouting Gricean maxim of quantity, a speaker blatantly says more of less information than the situation required. Here is the example when a speaker flouts Gricean maxim of quantity,
Example:
Petruchio has come to ask Baptisa for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Pet : And you, good sir! Pray, have you not a daughter Call’d
Katherina, fair and virtuous?
Bap : I have a daughter, sir, call’d Katherina.
(Thomas, 1995: 69)
In the conversation above, Baptisa’s answer by confirming that Katherina is
his daughter without mentioning fair and virtuous implies that he does not concede her daughter’s qualities mentioned by Petruchio. Here, Baptisa flouts
b. Flouting Gricean Maxim of Quality
When a speaker blatantly fails to adhere to Gricean maxim of quality, he/she says something which is lack of adequate evidence. Here is the example when a speaker flouts Gricean maxim of quality,
Example:
A is on train journey to her hometown. B is a fellow passenger who wants to talk to her:
B: Hi. What’s your name?
A: Michelle Obama.
In several circumstances, some people might give unwelcome attitude, for example by giving obviously untrue response. In the situation above, A flouts Gricean maxim of quality because she responses untrue answer showing her annoyance.
c. Flouting Gricean Maxim of Relation
When the speaker ostentatiously fails to observe Gricean maxims of relation, she/he expects “the hearers will be able to imagine what the utterances
did not say, and make the connection between their utterance and the preceding one(s)” (Cutting, 2002: 39). Here is the example of the speaker, who flouts the
Gricean maxims of relation, Example:
A : So what do you think of Mark?
B : His flatmate’s a wonderful cook.
(Cutting, 2002: 39) In the conversation above, B’s answer does not have any relevance towards A’s question by not mentioning Mark in the reply. Here, B blatantly fails to
d. Flouting Gricean Maxim of Manner
In flouting Gricean maxim of manner, a speaker does not give brief answer as expected by a hearer. He/she also responses with ambiguous expressions and has inability to speak clearly. Here is the example when a speaker flouts Gricean maxim of manner,
Example:
This interaction occurred during a radio interview with an unnamed official from the United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti:
Interviewer : Did the United States Government play any part in Duvalier’s departure? Did they, for example, actively encourage him to leave?
Official : I would not try to steer you away from that conclusion.
(Thomas, 1995: 71)
In the conversation above, the official flouts Gricean maxims of manner
because he/she does not answer briefly. The official could simply answer ‘Yes’,
however, his/her answer is obviously planned. 6. Humor
Many researchers have developed certain theory of humor for centuries. As cited by Raskin (1979: 326), Aristotle argues that humor as a symbol of human fault but not in a serious way. According to Attardo (1994: 271), “A large number of jokes involve violations of one or more of Grice’s maxims.” In order word, humor is created because the speakers do not adhere to Gricean maxims and fail to observe cooperative principles.
vocabulary which is used to make reference to human-related scenario by using
the word ‘you’, ‘I’, or ‘we’. The use of these words is because of the frustration
coming from one’s behavior that provokes laughter. Second, humor often uses negative words form such as ‘do not’, ‘cannot’, or ‘may not’. Third, in relation to
use negative words from, humor also contains adjective with negative meaning,
such as, ‘bad’, ‘illegal’, or ‘wrong’, and noun whose meaning has bad connotation
such as, ‘error’, ‘mistake’, or ‘failure’. Four, humor tends to make a reference to
certain professional communities or people such as lawyer or policeman. Last, humor often associates with “weak” human moments, including nouns such as ‘ignorance’, or ‘stupidity’, and also verbs such as ‘quit’ or ‘steal’.
According to Chiaro (1992: 8), in Western societies, sex is their universal jokes. Sexual humor is considered amusing especially if the jokes are about newly-weds or sexual initiation. However, sexual jokes may vary from culture to culture. In many cultures, common sexual jokes involve male prowess and penis size, and also seduction, adultery, cuckolded husband, and bodily functions (Chiaro, 1992: 8-9).
As cited by Lesmana (2015: 50), sexual humor in America is categorized into four categories. First is pure humor focusing on something astonishing. Second is the use of innuendo in order to deliver taboo issues. Third is hostile humor. Fourth is humor which contains intercourse in accordance with their respective cultures.
Here is the example when the use of ambiguity has influenced in creating sexual humor by implying both incongruity theory and release theory.
Example:
An English bishop received the following note from the vicar of a village in his diocese: “Milord, I regret to inform you of my wife’s death. Can you
possibly send me a substitute for the weekend?”
(Krikmann, 2006: 34) In the example above, a priest gets a note from the vicar of a village in his
diocese, saying that the vicar’s wife has passed away and he asked whether
someone can take his place for the weekend. However, looking at the context, one can interpret this example as sexual jokes. The word ‘substitute’ itself brings
ambiguous expression to the example. Based on the context, the word ‘substitute’
vicar’s place in the church. Here, the punchline in the sentence ‘Can you possibly
send me a substitute for the weekend?’ which is unexpected. Thus, using ambiguity and flouting of Gricean maxims can trigger sexual humor.
C.Theoretical Framework
There are four theories that will be used in this study. The theories will be the guidance in answering the formulated problems stated above. First, the theory of semantics is used in order to examine the sexual expressions in the utterances of 2 Broke Girls’ casts which are ambiguous. The theory of semantics helps to categorize types of ambiguities occuring in the utterances. Moreover, in order to understand the meaning of the ambiguous expressions, it cannot be done in isolation. Looking at the situational context or what actually occurs in the scene is used in order to understand the underlying meaning of the utterances and not
‘trap’ to the ambiguous words.
22 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A.Object of the Study
The objects of this study are the utterances taken from the casts of 2 Broke
Girls: Episodes 1-2 in Season 1-5. The conversations taken as the data are only
expressions conveying sexual connotation. Forty four utterances are found from the total of ten episodes used as the data object. The writer chooses episodes 1-2 in seasons 1-5 in order to verify that utterances containing sexual connotation in 2
Broke Girls are used in order to provoke laughter. Likewise, the writer studies the
strategies in creating the sexual humor in the conversations.
2 Broke Girls is an American television situational comedy series by
Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings aired on CBS. The story of 2 Broke
Girls takes place in Williamsburg neighborhood, Brooklyn. It is a story about
Max, a poor and sarcastic woman, and Caroline, who was born rich but is now penniless because of her father’s Wall Street scandal. The story began when
Caroline was looking for a job and met Max, a waitress in a small diner at Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Max feels sorry for Caroline’s life that is now breaks into pieces; she lets Caroline live at her apartment. During the time, both Max and Caroline become best friends bearing the same dream on making their own business. They are struggling in making their dream business come to success by owning Max’s homemade cupcakes. 2 Broke Girls first aired was in September
The aim of this study is to examine the expressions which convey sexual connotation in order to provoke laughter. In order to answer the first problem formulation stated above, the use of strategies in making sexual humor in 2 Broke
Girls is examined further using semantic and pragmatic analyses. The theory of
semantics is applied to examine the data which is the use of ambiguous expressions in making the sexual humor in the conversation. Moreover, the theory of pragmatics will be used in analyzing the ambiguous expression occurs in conversation by also observing the context they are engaged with. Further examination will be conducted by using Gricean maxims to classify the non-observance utterances said by the speakers in the episodes.
B.Approach of the Study
The focus of this study is to analyze the ambiguous expressions occur in the utterances in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5. The first approach applied in this study is semantics. Semantics is the study of the meaning morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences. Theory of semantics is used in order to see the lexical meaning of the ambiguous expressions which convey sexual humor. Eventually, understanding the ambiguous expression cannot be done in isolation. Therefore, in order to understand the intended meaning of the ambiguous expressions, looking at the context the utterances occur is beneficial.
focusing on the Gricean maxims, in order to study and classify which utterances have flouted the Gricean maxims as the tool to make sexual humor in 2 Broke
Girls.
C.Method of the Study
The study is conducted under two necessary procedures which are data collection and data analysis. Data collection is the steps of how the data are collected for this study. Data analysis is the final step of this study to discover the findings of this study.
1. Data Collection
A qualitative method was used in this study in order to answer two problem formulations listed above. According to Kuntjara (2006: 2), “In conversation analysis, the use of qualitative methods can uncover and understand why an interlocutor utters a certain speech act, and what possible meanings lie behind it.” One of the most used techniques in qualitative method is a purposive sampling. In purposive sampling, the data taken are only the selected data which are suitable for the purpose of the study. Hence, the qualitative method was executed in order to only analyze the utterances of the characters which convey sexual humor.
according to Litosseliti (2010: 96), “Sampling, balance, and representative are key theoretical concepts in corpus concept.” It means that in order to verify that most
of the episodes in 2 Broke Girls portray sexual humor using several strategies, which later were analyzed in this study, it was required to collect the data in equally balanced.
The next step was the writer read the scripts while watching the sitcom in order to understand the context the utterances engaged with. By looking at the context, it helped in analyzing the meaning of ambiguous expressions said by the casts.
The fourth step was the writer highlighted which conversations reflected sexual humor and listed in by its seasons. This step helped the writer to specify the study only to the utterances which conveyed sexual humor. The fifth step was to classify the data findings into the strategies used in making the sexual humor. Last but not least, after categorizing the strategies, the writer analyzed the data using semantic and pragmatics approaches.
2. Data Analysis
(OALD) and urbandictionary.com. The main aim of examining the sentences further by using contextual meaning was to understand the characters’ intended meaning by saying ambiguous expressions.
Related to the second problem in this study, semantic and pragmatic approaches were used in order to examine the strategies used to provoke sexual humor in 2 Broke Girls. Semantic approach was used to study the ambiguous expressions found in the data. Likewise, pragmatic approach purposed by Grice was used to analyze the utterances which flouted the Gricean maxims in order to cause sexual humor to the episodes. The analysis began with listed down the expressions which conveyed sexual humor. The analysis continued with classifying the expressions found based on the strategies they were used.
After classifying the data taken from the episodes, the last step was given a code to the data. The encoding of the data in this study is elaborated below:
a. The code from the number of the data
The data was numbered 01 as the code. The numeral code was given based on each strategy.
b. The code from the number of the season
The data was coded based on the season of the occurrence of the utterances. The data was given S1 as the code which was read as Season 1.
c. The episode the utterances occurred
d. The types of strategies used in the utterances
The data were classified based on their strategies. The data will be given Amb as the code when the strategies used was Ambiguity. Likewise, the data were given Flo as a code which was the abbreviation of Flouting.
e. The types of ambiguity that occurs to the data
Each type of the ambiguity was abbreviated as follows: i. Lex was the abbreviation of Lexical Ambiguity. ii. Ref was the abbreviation of Referential Ambiguity. iii. Syn was the abbreviation of Syntactic Ambiguity.
f. The types of Gricean maxims flouted by the characters in the episodes. Each type of the Gricean maxims was abbreviated as follows:
i. Quan was the abbreviation of Gricean maxims of Quantity. ii. Qual was the abbreviation of Gricean maxims of Quality. iii. Rel was the abbreviation of Gricean maxims of Relation. iv. Man was the abbreviation of Gricean maxims of Manner. Here is the example of the code:
01/S1/E2/Amb/Lex
The code above was read “the data is number one in Season 1 Episode 2
01/S2/E1/Flo/Quan
29 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter will be divided into two parts of analysis. The first part of the analysis lists the expressions which lead to sexual humor in the conversation between the casts of 2 Broke Girls: episodes 1-2 of seasons 1-5. The first part of the analysis answers the first problem formulation of the study.
The second part of the analysis portrays the occurrence of strategies used in creating the sexual humor. This part discussed the type of ambiguities and floutings of Gricean maxims which is to show how the ambiguities and floutings create sexual humor in the episodes of 2 Broke Girls. The second part of the analysis answers the second problem formulation of the study.
A.Expressions Containing Ambiguities and Floutings of Gricean Maxims in Creating Sexual Humor in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5
1. Ambiguity
One of the strategies used in 2 Broke Girls in order to provoke to sexual humor is by using ambiguous expressions. Ambiguity is classified into three different kinds which are lexical ambiguity, referential ambiguity, and syntactic ambiguity. Based on the data findings twenty five expressions are found using ambiguous expressions to create the sexual humor. The types of ambiguities used in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5 are lexical, referential, and syntactic ambiguity. The percentage of types of ambiguity that occur in characters’ utterances in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5 is presented in chart 4.1. as follows.
Chart 4.1. Types of Ambiguities
The chart above shows that the kind of ambiguity mostly used in the episodes is lexical ambiguity. There is 64% of lexical ambiguity used in the episodes in order to create sexual humor. Further, there is 36% of referential ambiguity and 0% of syntactic ambiguity used in the episodes. The expressions which are ambiguous and convey sexual humor are displayed below based on the types of ambiguities they are classified to.
64% 36%
0%
Table 1. Ambiguities Found in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5
No. Utterances Type of
Ambiguity
Marker of Humor
1. She's coming. Lexical Incongruity
Release
2. You're getting me wet. Lexical Incongruity
Release 3. I'm already worried about me being late...
every month. Lexical
6. Oh. This thing has been plugged more than
the Kardashian sisters. Lexical
Incongruity Hostility
Release 7. My fingers are already too friendly. Ask my
fourth-grade boyfriend. Lexical 11. The only back-and-forth I want from this
guy is on his back and for the fourth time. Lexical
Incongruity Release 12. Max, the guy is coming right now. Lexical Incongruity
Release 13. I don't want to hear anymore about that
guy's hole! Lexical
Incongruity Release
14. I'm in. Lexical Incongruity
Release 15. Then I didn't get out to pee a couple times. Lexical Incongruity
Release
Let me just charge this up for you right next to me. This thing has been plugged more than the Kardashian sisters.
Referential
Incongruity Hostility
18.
Oh, my God! A black American express card? I haven't held a black one in my hands in years.
I would've guessed you hadn't held a black
one ever.
Referential Incongruity Release
19.
We have no big expectations about the opening tonight. It's a soft opening.
Referential Incongruity Release What's the difference between a soft one
and a hard one?
20.
Delicious, homemade artisan bread. At first, I was reluctant to put something so big in my mouth. But the hot butter drizzling down my chin was my sticky reward.
Referential Incongruity Release
21.
Just squeeze some out and put it on the
parts that we need to move.
Referential Incongruity
It's bigger than I'm used to. Let me just take
a minute and breathe. And I'm sure I can take it all in.
Referential Incongruity Release
23.
(holding his genital) Hey, mind if I use your bathroom? I need to check on the boys. See if they're girls.
Referential Incongruity Release
24.
Max, the guy is coming right now.
Referential Incongruity Release That's the first time anyone's ever been
polite enough to announce that to me. Yeah, hilarious, sex is messy.
25.
I can't turn it on.
Referential Incongruity Release Well, drop your towel and tell it has a big
nozzle.
2. Flouting of Gricean Maxims
In order to make sexual humor in the casts’ utterances in 2 Broke Girls, not
Gricean maxims is classified into four types. They are flouting Gricean maxims of quantity, flouting Gricean maxims of quality, flouting Gricean maxims of relation, and flouting Gricean maxims of relation. Based on the data findings, twelve expressions flout Gricean maxims are found. The percentage flouting of Gricean maxim types that occur in characters’ utterances in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of
Seasons 1-5 is presented in chart 4.2. as follows.
Chart 4.2. Types of Flouting Gricean Maxims
The chart above shows that type of Gricean maxims mostly flouted in the episodes is quantity. 67% flouting Gricean maxims of quantity, 8% of flouting Gricean maxims of quality, 17% flouting Gricean maxims of relation, and 8% flouting Gricean maxims of manner occur in the episodes. The utterances flouting Gricean maxims and provoke to sexual humor are displayed below based on each type they are categorized to.
67% 8%
17% 8%
Flouting Gricean Maxims of Quantity
Flouting Gricean Maxims of Quality
Flouting Gricean Maxims of Relation
Table 2. Floutings of GriceanMaxims Found in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of
Max We've known each other two days and you're already asking for back door?
2.
Oleg Caroline, did you think Sophie and I were exclusive?
Quantity Incongruity Release Caroline Well, you have stopped showing us
your penis.
5.
Caroline Look. Look, Earl, we're wearing our "Max's homemade cupcakes" t-shirts again. See the logo?
Quantity Incongruity Release Earl Well, actually, I try never to look you
ladies in the "chestal" area. It keeps
It's the only thing we have in common.
7.
Max You mean the lube?
Quantity Incongruity Release Caroline Can we please call it make-up
remover? Please! I need us to do that.
8.
Caroline Have you been in there this whole time?
Quantity Incongruity Release Max I got out to pee a couple times. Then I
didn't get out to pee a couple times.
9.
Costumer Excuse me, where's my waitress?
10.
Robie I'm Robbie.
Relation Incongruity Release Caroline I'm uncomfortable. You're getting me
wet.
11.
Max Ooh! Late night phone call. Ring-a-ding-dang. Someone's gonna get their
freaky freak on. Relation Incongruity
Release Caroline It's my father.
12.
Caroline Oleg, come to the bed. I need you!
Manner Incongruity Release Oleg All right! Only took you four years,
but I'm here, baby.
B.The Way Ambiguities and Floutings of Gricean Maxims Create Sexual Humor in 2 Broke Girls: Episodes 1-2 of Seasons 1-5
This part discusses the ways the ambiguities and flouting Gricean maxims in
2 Broke Girls: Episode 1-2 of Season 1-5 use to provoke sexual humor.
1. Ambiguity
Twenty five expressions in 2 Broke Girls: episodes 1-2 of seasons 1-5 are found using ambiguity. The data are classified based on each type of ambiguities. Sixteen expressions of lexical ambiguity, nine expressions of referential ambiguity, and zero expression of syntactic ambiguity are found in the episodes. The more thorough elaboration of each type is as follows.
a. Lexical ambiguity
highlights five examples of lexical ambiguity creating sexual humor in 2 Broke
Girls episodes.
The first example is taken from episode 1 of season 1 in 2 Broke Girls.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances
Max finds out
Costumer Excuse me, where's my waitress? Paulina (Screams from back room) Max (Laughing) She's coming.
The situation in the conversation above takes place at Williamsburg’s diner where is Max’s working place. In the situation above, Caroline has not come yet and Max works with Paulina. In the situation above, Max looks for Paulina because Max needs some horseradish and she finds Paulina is at the back of the rack.
From the scene, it is assumed that Paulina is having sexual intercourse at the
back of the rack because there is a ‘shaking movement’ from where Paulina’s
voice can be heard. After finding out the fact that Paulina is having sexual intercourse, Max continues working and suddenly a costumer asks her where his waitress is which the one he refers is Paulina. Max responses the costumer by saying that ‘she’s coming’.
expression lies on the homonymous word. The word ‘come’ pronounces and spells the same conveying different concept of meaning. Based on the eight edition of OALD (2015: 282-283), there are eleven different meanings of the
word ‘come’. The discussion of the meaning of ‘come’ will be taken as the one of
which is more suitable to the context, they are: 1) to move to or towards a person or place 2) to arrive at or reach a place
3) to have an orgasm
From the customer’s intention, he asks and expects a waitress to move to his
position. However, if we understand the previous action, the waitress asked by the
customer is having a sexual intercourse. It can be seen from the Paulina’s
utterances and also looked from the scene. However, Max’s answer is different from the customer’s expectation. Since ‘she’s coming’ does not literally mean Paulina is coming, the word ‘coming’ refers to Paulina’s orgasm that is coming, due to the state of her reaching an orgasm after a sexual intercourse. From this, we can understand that what Max means by ‘coming’ is different from what it is supposed to be, which is move towards the speaker, in this case, customer.
The use of lexical ambiguity in word ‘coming’ creates sexual humor to the utterance because of the implementation of incongruity theory and release theory.
The punchline uttered by Max ‘She is coming’, is ambiguous and brings taboo
issue which is sex.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances
Robie, not wearing shirt, flirts with Caroline.
Robie [put off his cloth] No, I... I got it. Caroline Oh, okay.
02/S1/E1/ Amb/Lex
Robie I'm Robbie.
Caroline I'm uncomfortable. You're getting me
wet.
Robie That's the point.
The situation above takes place at Max’s apartment. It is the first time Caroline comes to Max’s apartment. When Caroline washes her uniform at the sink, Robie walks out from the bedroom. Both of them do not realize that there is someone beside them in the room. The time Caroline sees Robie, she amazes at
Robie’s appearances. Further, Caroline does not realize that the water in the sink
almost full and gets her a little bit wet. Robie initiates to put off his shirt and gives it to Caroline and Robie introduces himself. However, when Robie tells his name to Caroline, Caroline responds by saying that Robie makes her wet.
The word ‘wet’ in the utterances above is classified as lexical ambiguity because it can be interpreted more than one meaning. The lexical meaning of the
word ‘wet’, according to OALD (2015: 1691) is “covered with or containing
liquid, especially water.”. However, the word ‘wet’ in this situation comes from
the word ‘wet dream’ which according to OALD (2015: 1692) means “a sexually
exciting dream that a man has that results in an orgasm”.
Looking at the context, both Caroline and Robie happen to be in the same
The lexical ambiguity in the word ‘wet’ is used in order to create sexual humor to the episodes. It follows theory of humor as the markers which are the theory of incongruity and release. The punchline ‘That’s the point’ said by Robie
is unexpected which uses incongruity theory and the use of the word ‘wet’ which
has sexual meaning follows release theory which discuss taboo matter.
The third example of lexical ambiguity is taken from episode 2 of season 1 of 2 Broke Girls.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances
03/S1/E2/ remembered I didn't have any money on me. And then I remembered I didn't
time to work. The word ‘late’ in Max’s utterance is classified as lexical ambiguity
since it conveys more than one meaning. It is caused by the use of homonymous word which what is meant by Max has different meaning with lexical meaning of
the word ‘late’. According to OALD (2015: 838), the word ‘late’ means “near the end of a period of time, a person’s life, etc”. Max says that Caroline cannot be late
again which means that Caroline should come on time next time. However, the next utterance says that Max is already worried that she is also late every month.
The word ‘late’ in the second utterance does not convey the same meaning as the
Looking from the context from the situation above, the word ‘late’ in the second utterance is mostly understood by Max and Caroline as pregnant. The
word ‘every month’ helps to conclude the second interpretation of the word ‘late’.
Max is a girl who always has her period every month. Moreover, when someone’s period does not come on time she is probably pregnant. This conclusion is understood by looking at the cultural general knowledge context which most people have already known about, including them.
The use of lexical ambiguity in word ‘late’ follows the theory of
incongruity and release theory where the punchline ‘Well, you can't be late again.
I'm already worried about me being late... every month.’, is unpredictable and surprising and it leads to taboo issues regarding to sexual intercourse that leads to pregnancy.
The fourth example of lexical ambiguity is taken from episode 1 of season 2 of 2 Broke Girls.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances
05/S2/E1/ Amb/Lex
Max knows that
Caroline has done sexual intercourse.
Caroline So did we, I broke my hymen getting that thing.
Max Is that why it's called a loving cup?
The situation above takes place in the Channings’ auction event. In this
event, all valuable things belongs to the Channings are auctioned; one of those is
Caroline’s cup which she gets when she wins horse riding. Caroline and Max have
However, during the auction, they fail to get the cup. The word ‘getting’ in Caroline’s utterance by saying ‘I broke my hymen getting that thing.’, is classified
as lexical ambiguity. The word ‘getting’ is homonymous which words’ spelling
and pronunciation are same, yet have different concept of meaning.
Looking at the context, Max understands ‘that thing’ uttered by Caroline
refers to the loving cup. What Caroline means by saying ‘getting’ has the literal
meaning based on the dictionary. According to OALD (2015: 626), the word
‘getting’ which comes from the word ‘get’ means “to achieve something”. In the
other words, Caroline breaks her hymen when she obtains the cup. According to stuffmomnevertoldyou.com, hymen can be torn not only because of sexual
intercourse, but also horse riding. On the other hand, what Max’s interpret by
Caroline’s utterance is different with the meaning above.
What Max presumably interprets, according to urbandictionary.com, the
word ‘get’ means ‘have sexual intercourse’. Max uses the phrase ‘broke my hymen’ to interpret the word ‘get’ as something which has sexual connotation. It
can also be understood because Max responses by saying ‘the loving cup’. Therefore, what Caroline means by the word ‘get’ is ‘to obtain the cup’ and what Max means is ‘in order to have the cup, Caroline has sexual intercourse’.
The utterances above are classified as sexual humor because it brings up
The fifth example of lexical ambiguity is taken from episode 1 of season 4 in 2 Broke Girls.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances
09/S4/E1/ Amb/Lex
They understand the function of condom.
Caroline That's it for tonight. Time to count the tip jar. Hand condom.
Max I can't believe you. Using protection is so five years ago.
Caroline This is Williamsburg. There's a good chance even the dollars have herpes.
The situation above takes place at Max and Caroline’s cupcake shop. In this situation, Caroline and Max are ready to close their shop and count their tip
jar. Caroline asks for a hand condom to Max who later puts that on Caroline’s
hand. The word ‘condom’ said by Caroline is lexically ambiguous because of its homonymous word. The word ‘condom’ from what Caroline and Max’s utterances has the different concept of meaning. Based on the eight edition of OALD (2015: 302), the word ‘condom’means “a thin rubber covering that a man wears over his penis during sex to stop a woman becoming pregnant or to protect
against diseases.” However, what Caroline means in this situation is hand condom
which is to protect her hands while counting money in the tip jar.
is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD)”, from this we can conclude that
what Max means by saying protection is related to sexual meaning.
In order to create sexual humor, the word ‘condom’ implies all three markers of creating humor. First, the lexical ambiguity in the word ‘condom’ and
the unexpected punchline ‘I can't believe you. Using protection is so five years ago’ includes in the theory of incongruity. Second, the theory of hostility in these utterances between Max and Caroline, they bring lower social neighborhood
which is Williamburg as the butt of the humor by saying ‘This is Williamsburg. There's a good chance even the dollars have herpes.’ Last, the humor here provoke to sexual issues which is used in release theory.
b. Referential Ambiguity
Referential ambiguity occurs when one expression uses vague references such
as the use of anaphora ‘he, she, it, or they’, or the use of unspecific referring
expressions (Kreidler, 1998: 151). In order to make sexual humor to the episodes of 2 Broke Girls, referential ambiguity is used. Based on the data findings, nine expressions are found using referential ambiguity. The writer chooses five examples of using the referential ambiguity in the utterances.
The first example is taken from episode 2 of season 2 of 2 Broke Girls. Data
Code Context
Speaker Utterances
01/S2/E2/ Amb/Ref
Han knows that
Kardashian sisters have history with sexual life.
The situation above takes place in Williamsburg’s diner which belongs to
Han. In this scene, Han is excited to introduce the new electronic system to the whole employee in the diner. This situation is when he explains the system to
Earl. The word ‘thing’ in Han’s utterance is classified as referential ambiguity
because it refers to more than one meaning.
The pronoun ‘thing’ in the situation above can be understood as it refers to the electricity plug or refers to something related to the Kardashian sisters.
Looking at the context of this situation, the context Han’s involve in is
presumably Han knows about the Kardashian sisters’ sexual life since they are celebrities.
In order to understand what Han refers by saying the pronoun ‘thing’,
looking at the meaning is important. According to OALD (2015: 1125), the word
‘plug’ as a verb means ‘to fill a hole with a substance or piece of material that fits
into it’. On the other hand, the context tends to relate with the Kardashian sisters.
Moreover, according to urbandictionary.com, ‘plug’ means‘slang term for having
sex with somebody, whether anal or vaginal.’. In conclusion, the pronoun ‘thing’
referred by Han in this utterances means the Kardashian sisters’ vaginas which have had many sexual intercourses.
The sexual humor in this utterances lies on using the markers of making humor which are incongruity and release theory. The unexpected expression said by Han follows the incongruity theory as the marker and the use of sexual
meaning word such as ‘plug’ follows the theory of release.
Data Code Context Speaker Utterances opening tonight. It's a soft opening. Han What's the difference between a soft
one and a hard one?
Oleg You want me to show him? Max Thanks, but we're cool
Oleg Seriously, it won't take me a minute. Caroline It's fine, Oleg.
Oleg Just so you know, I'm already there.
In this situation, Caroline and Max are excited about their new cupcake shop. They ask Han and Oleg to take a look at their shop for the first time. Caroline says that this is just a soft opening and Han asks what the differences between a soft and a hard one are. The pronoun ‘one’ in‘soft one’ and ‘hard one’ in this context is classified as referential ambiguity because the use of reference
‘it’ leads to different meanings. In the conversation above, Han intends to ask the differences between a (supposedly) soft opening and grand opening of the shop. However, instead of saying grand opening, Han uses the pronoun ‘one’ which is vague and ambiguous. Thus, by saying ambiguous word, it triggers Oleg, who is a pervert man, to imply the meaning to more sexual interpretation. It is because the
word ‘one’ can refer to many meanings.
It is supported by Oleg’s punchline by asking Caroline and Max to show
Han the differences between soft one and hard one by asking “You want me to
show him?” while pointing out his penis. Looking at the context which is situational context where in this situation is only understood by Oleg, Max, and
Caroline. Thus, only them who understand what Oleg say by saying “You want
