indirect speech act

a speech act whose purpose is not explicit from the form or content of the utterance but must be inferred. For example, the apparent observation It’s so cold in here! may well be intended as a request that someone close the window. See conversational inference; form–function distinction; implicature.

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Psychology term of the day

February 25th 2025

social reform program

an intervention program developed and implemented to counter deleterious aspects of a social system, the primary objective being to reduce the effects of malfunctions in the system. Also called countermeasure-intervention program.