Cheerfully Misunderstanding Deixis on the Screen: Coach is his (Nick)name and Misunderstanding Deixis is his Game (Cheers, NBC, 1982-1993)

Abstract

This paper is a qualitative analysis of the misunderstandings resulting from Coach’s difficulties when processing his interlocutors’ use of exophoric and endophoric deixis (and anadeixis), in order to show how this character both stands out and, paradoxically, fits in. This tension between standing out and fitting in shows (1) that elucidating deixis is not as effortless as could be thought and (2) that these misunderstandings prove to be a key feature of the humor generated by the sitcom, which is meant to welcome everyone—just as they are all welcome in the Boston bar called Cheers.

Keywords

• anadeixis
• deixis
• misunderstanding
• Cheers
• interactional humor
• community-building