Face
This is a term suggested by linguist Irving Goffman as a part of his theory that concerning the way in conversation that people try to maintain their sense of ‘self-image – i.e. to prevent belittlement’. A face threatening act – according to this important theory – is an unexpected turn in a conversation when one speaker challenges or rejects another’s attempt at maintaining face, e.g. ‘What a laughable thing to say!’ (see also ‘politeness principle’). Face work occurs when there is a use of conversational turn explicitly to help maintain face. (see more on the internet by searching for Irving Goffman, 1955).
