• The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean that but also to mean something else.

    John Searle: The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean that but also to mean something else.
    "Expression and Meaning: Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts". Book by John Searle, 1979.