This review discusses the book "Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies" edited by Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Juliane House, and Gabriele Kasper, published by Ablex Publishing Corporation in 1989. The book is part of the Advances in Discourse Processes series and focuses on the empirical study of speech acts and speech actions, particularly requests and apologies, across different cultures and languages. The review highlights the shift in research from theoretical universalism to a more empirical approach, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural and intralingual variations in language use. The book is based on the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP), which aimed to investigate the realization patterns of speech acts under different social constraints. The project involved researchers from various linguistic backgrounds and used a discourse-completion test (DCT) to gather data from speakers from seven different cultures. The review outlines the methodological approach, which combines qualitative categories from interaction theory with quantitative criteria, and discusses the results and methodological claims of the studies. The authors focus on the strategic use of indirectness and intensification in requests and apologies, respectively, and the role of social variables in these speech acts. The book provides significant insights into the universal and cultural variations in language use, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in pragmatics and second language acquisition.This review discusses the book "Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Requests and Apologies" edited by Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Juliane House, and Gabriele Kasper, published by Ablex Publishing Corporation in 1989. The book is part of the Advances in Discourse Processes series and focuses on the empirical study of speech acts and speech actions, particularly requests and apologies, across different cultures and languages. The review highlights the shift in research from theoretical universalism to a more empirical approach, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural and intralingual variations in language use. The book is based on the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP), which aimed to investigate the realization patterns of speech acts under different social constraints. The project involved researchers from various linguistic backgrounds and used a discourse-completion test (DCT) to gather data from speakers from seven different cultures. The review outlines the methodological approach, which combines qualitative categories from interaction theory with quantitative criteria, and discusses the results and methodological claims of the studies. The authors focus on the strategic use of indirectness and intensification in requests and apologies, respectively, and the role of social variables in these speech acts. The book provides significant insights into the universal and cultural variations in language use, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in pragmatics and second language acquisition.