Your statement only holds insofar as you ignore (or deny the legitimacy of) the role of context and non-verbal communication in determining the overt meaning of a statement.
Statements don’t have a single meaning. They have layers of meaning. “Overt” is a word that has a specific meaning. The overt meaning of something can be different than the deeper meaning of it.
Take a wife asking her husband whether she looks fat in her dress.
If you use a model like that of Schulz von Thun, you get an expression of meaning on all four layers. The information layer about whether or not she looks fat in the dress is the overt layer. However, most people do also understand that the question has a deeper relationship layer and answering it on the information layer would offend many wives.
Zach argues in this post that we should call this kind of question “bad faith”.
Sarcastic statements frequently have different overt and deep meanings. You need to understand the context to understand the deep meaning.
I have not heard about Carlson’s and Maddow’s cases.
Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow used to be two of the most popular prime show hosts, are you saying you have no idea of their programs? What do you think a Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow fan would say if you ask them whether they are truthful?
Statements don’t have a single meaning. They have layers of meaning. “Overt” is a word that has a specific meaning. The overt meaning of something can be different than the deeper meaning of it.
Take a wife asking her husband whether she looks fat in her dress.
If you use a model like that of Schulz von Thun, you get an expression of meaning on all four layers. The information layer about whether or not she looks fat in the dress is the overt layer. However, most people do also understand that the question has a deeper relationship layer and answering it on the information layer would offend many wives.
Zach argues in this post that we should call this kind of question “bad faith”.
Sarcastic statements frequently have different overt and deep meanings. You need to understand the context to understand the deep meaning.
Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow used to be two of the most popular prime show hosts, are you saying you have no idea of their programs? What do you think a Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow fan would say if you ask them whether they are truthful?