A language expert breaks down the words that may have prompted the FBI to look at Trump Published by Business Insider on Sat, 17 Jun 2017

A language expert breaks down the words that may have prompted the FBI to look at Trump
Published by Business Insider on Sat, 17 Jun 2017
Much of former FBI Director James Comeys recent congressional testimony hinged on a single utterance from President Donald Trump: "hope."According to Comey, on Feb. 14 President Trump dismissed the other participants from an Oval Office meeting and requested that Comey stay behind for a one-on-one conversation. During this conversation Trump reportedly said:"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."Comey said he interpreted Trumps words as a directive, as a request to end the investigation of Michael Flynn.Not everyone heard the presidents words the same way. In fact, the main point of Idaho Sen. James Rischs questioning of Comey during the hearing centered on the meaning of the "I hope you can" phrase.According to Rischs analysis, President Trump was expressing only a desire, or a wishnot a direct request. Eventually, Risch persuaded Comey to agree that the presidents words, by themselves, did not constitute an order to end the investigation.My research has focused on the role played by social factors in both language production (i.e., what people say) and language comprehension (i.e., how people understand another persons meaning). The problem with Rischs reasoning is that decades of scientific research show that a speakers intended meaning cannot be derived solely from the words used to convey that meaning. A speakers intended meaning can differ, sometimes dramatically, from a literal interpretation based on the words alone. Context is critical for understanding what a speaker intends to convey.Can you pass the salt'For example, when I ask my dinner companion if she can pass the salt, she knows Im not asking if she is physically able to pass the salt; Im requesting that she do so. The literal meaning derived from my words is not what I am trying to convey.On the other hand, if my doctor, during a physical exam, asks me if Im able to pass the salt, Ill probably interpret his utterance literallythat hes asking about the soundness of my arm, if I am physically able to pass the salt.Context is critical.One of the most important features of the social context is the power relationship existing between the people involved. My colleagues and I have conducted psycholinguistic experiments in which we manipulate the power of the speaker and examine its impact on comprehension.The results show that the relative power of the speaker plays a substantial role in how the person being spoken to understands what is said. For example, we found that when someone made an ambiguous remark, such as "It seems very cold in here," the remark was more likely to be taken as a directivefor example, turn the thermostat upif the speaker was a boss, compared to when the speaker was a co-worker.The president of the United States may be one of the most powerful people in the country, if not the world. To not take his expression of desire as a directive could be seen as a dereliction of duty.There are other aspects of this particular context that Comey notedothers were requested to leave so that they could speak in private. These factors also clearly contribute to the interpretation of the presidents utterance as a directive.Phrasing a request as a desire, and using nonliteral language in general, provides a speaker with plausible deniability, the benefits of which have been described and documented by psychologist Steven Pinker. In a sense, nonliteral language allows one to have it both ways.The recipient might accept the intended meaning and act on itComey could have complied and terminated the Flynn investigation. On the other hand, if the recipient questions the meaningAre you asking me to terminate the investigation'the speaker can then simply deny that interpretationNo, of course not, I was simply stating a wish.There are many issues that remain to be resolved in this ongoing investigation. When it comes to the presidents "hoping" that the Michael Flynn investigation could be terminated, existing research on language and social interactions may be a helpful guide.SEE ALSO:There's a theme emerging in Mueller's Russia probe that could prove damning for TrumpJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Science says lasting relationships come down to 3 basic traits
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