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[19] Child: Mom, guess what
happened? (= pre-announcement)
Mother: (Silence)
Child: Mom, you know (= pre-announcement)
what?
Mother: Not right now, Jacy,
I'm busy. (= stop)
In example [19], there are two pre-announcements, neither of which receives a 'go-ahead'. The
initial pre-announcement is met with silence, which is generally interpreted as a 'stop'. The
child's second attempt must be based on an interpretation that the parent did not hear the first
attempt. The final response has to be inter-preted as a 'stop', but noticeably it is expressed, in
face-saving terms, as a postponement.
Throughout this discussion of politeness in interaction, we have been assuming a well-known
and easily recognizable structure for the interaction.That structure must now be analyzed
because it is our comfortable familiarity with its regularity that allows a great deal to be
communicated that is never said.
