Indirect Speech

Abstract

Indirectness makes the hidden especially powerful, necessitating guesswork about social rules. This article presents indirectness from three perspectives, and points out the challenges associated with each: indirectness as a linguistic feature, as a pragmatic realization, and as both a culture‐specific and a cross‐cultural phenomenon. Among challenges to the further study of indirectness, a move from “indirect speech” to “indirect communication” may compel us to better conceptualize the boundary between indirectness and directness; how meanings may be accomplished through interactants' continuous work; and what role context plays in defining indirectness.