In this video, Pinker makes a point about the Indirect Speech Act. This is when we don't say what me mean, but we find common grounds with each other. The speaker hopes for the listener to understand, read between the lines and recognise that it's a polite request. For example, 'It would be great if you could pass the guacamole' is a request which uses the imperative but without the dominance. He talks about innuendos and how we are more comfortable in conversation when these are said as opposed to direct requests.
He generally talks about how the language we use makes us more relaxed and easy when not using direct requests. Usually, using innuendos to swerve around the imperative verb makes it seem less dominant and forceful.
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