Keelefilosoofia raamat
So too, a linguistic expression's meaning is
constituted by the tacit rules governing its correct conversational use.
Start with expressions like "Hello," "Damn" (or "Good gracious"), "Oh,
dear," "Excuse me," "Amen," "Thanks," "Stop it!," "You're on" (when a bet
has been offered), and "Bless you." These do not seem to mean what they do in
virtue of standing for anything or in virtue of expressing propositions. They
are just conventional devices, respectively, of greeting, evincing consterna-
tion, deploring, apologizing, endorsing, thanking, protesting, committing
oneself to a bet, and blessing. They are noises we make that have socially
defined functional roles; there are appropriate occasions for using them, inap-
propriate occasions for using them, and appropriate responses. When we talk
of their meanings, we mean the functions they characteristically perform in
the context of our current social practices. On the Wittgensteinian view, this
annaabi.ee 
