Since the mid-1960s, most researchers concerned with the analysis of conversational discourse have embraced the proposals of Grice (1967, 1975) as adequately characterizing the principles underlying verbal interaction.¹ Simply stated, Grice argues that there is a theory of how people ordinarily use language, that this theory contains a set of assumptions about conversation that guide the interaction, and that these guiding assumptions arise from basic rational considerations about how one could go about engaging in efficient and effective use of language to further cooperative ends.²