Moaning, whinging and laughing: the subjective side of complaints

Indirect complaint sequences are examined in a corpus of everyday domestic telephone conversations. The analysis focuse's on how a speaker/complainer displays and manages their subjective investment in the complaint. Four features are picked out: (1) announcements. in which an upcoming complaint is projected in ways that signal the complainer's stance or attitude: (2) laughter accompanying the complaint announcement. and its delivery and receipt: (3) displacement. where the speaker complains about something incidental to what would be expected to be the main offence: and (4) uses of lexical descriptions such as 'moan' and 'whinge' that formulate subjectivity. investment, and a disposition to complain. and are generally used to counter a complaint's evidential basis or objectivity Laughter and irony provide complaint recipients with response cues. and are, used in ways that can strengthen as well as undermine a complaint's factual bash and seriousness.