L. argues that there are basically two rules of pragmatic competence, viz. 'Be clear' and 'Be polite', and that Grice's maxims of conversation specify only the first one, though when there is a conflict between clarity and politeness in conversation, the latter usually wins. Further, she contends that the maxims of conversation are in fact subcases of one of her rules of politeness, viz. 'Don't impose'. Finally, she says that the basic form of the rules of politeness is universal, though their relative importance is subject to 'dialectal' variation.