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Offer

Definition​

Used when: the source argument has the potential to commit the speaker to some future course of action, conditioned on the agreement of the addressee.

Distinctions​

note

Offer, Commit, and Propose all carry the potential to commit someone to a course of action.

  • Both Offer and Commit potentially commit the speaker to some course of action:
    • In an Offer, commitment of the speaker is conditioned on the agreement of the addressee.
    • For a Commit, this agreement is not required.
  • Some Proposals are for a course of action, possibly committing the group or different parties. If it is unclear from the context whether the taker of the action is the speaker, then Proposal can be used. Similarly, Proposals can be used for courses of action taken as a group, or for a particular party that is not the speaker.

Examples​

<in a collaborative board game>

(81) Engineer: Do you guys have any suggestions?
(82) Pilot: Um
(83) Engineer: I could try to get to the Cave of Shadows.
---
(83) -- Offer --> (81)

The Engineer offers to try to move to a particular place on the board.

(306) Pilot: ok so
(307) Pilot: Should I move here and then turn that over?
---
(307) -- Offer --> (306)

The Pilot asks the the group if they should take a specific action, which is both a question and an offer, as the answer 'yes' commits the speaker to a course of action.

(526) Pilot: But I need one more to fly you out
(527) Engineer: I have, I have one.
---
(527) -- Offer --> (526)

An Offer can also be implicit, as in (527), where the Engineer announces they have a resource (a card) in response to the Pilot declaring they need one. This is implicitly an offer to give the Pilot that card, which would allow them to take the action of flying out.