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Full-Text Articles in Law

Law, Literature, And The Humanities: Panel Discussion, James Boyd White, Nancy L. Cook, Judy M. Cornett, Clark D. Cunningham, Thomas D. Eisele, L. H. Larue, David Ray Papke Jan 1994

Law, Literature, And The Humanities: Panel Discussion, James Boyd White, Nancy L. Cook, Judy M. Cornett, Clark D. Cunningham, Thomas D. Eisele, L. H. Larue, David Ray Papke

Other Publications

This panel discussion took place on April 21, 1994, as part of the University of Cincinnati College of Law's 1994 Robert S. Marx Lecture presented by Professor James Boyd White: The Authority of Law and Philosophy in Plato's Crito.


'I Can Take A Hint': Social Ineptitude, Embarrassment, And The King Of Comedy, William I. Miller Jan 1994

'I Can Take A Hint': Social Ineptitude, Embarrassment, And The King Of Comedy, William I. Miller

Articles

The phrase "I can take a hint," when said seriously, contains its own denial. It reveals that the speaker has not been very adept at recognizing the hints already given, nor very graceful about not making a scene once he has recognized them. Its very utterance has the effect of punishing the hint-giver by making her hint fail as a hint. The truly successful hint works by gaining its end with no extra awkwardness added to the social encounter. The good hint should be barely perceived by the person toward whom it is directed. We could even say that it …