In reply to Emma’s comment about not being able to help much from Spain with the press contacts for the convocation, Marshall said, “Yeah, sure, great excuse! You’re just a lazy butt!” Everyone, including Emma, recognized this as teasing and knew that Marshall meant the opposite of what the words seemed to mean.
Holistically, the meaning of the statement was, “We like you, we think you’re doing a good job, and we know you can’t plan a press conference from Spain.”
1. What are all the factors that contributed to helping the members interpret the accurate meaning of Marshall’s remarks? How did they know he was teasing?
2. If Emma had not been sure that Marshall had been teasing, how could she have clarified what he meant? Do you think this would have been difficult for her? Would it have been difficult for you to clarify if someone really thought you were a “lazy butt”?
3. Under what conditions do you think it is okay to use a term like “lazy butt”? When would you, and when would you not, use language like that?