British philosopher Austin, John Langshaw’s term for a type of speech that performs an action. For example, the phrase ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife’ performs the action of joining two people in marriage, provided the person who utters it is so empowered. Performatives do not always have to be as direct as that. If, for example, someone says ‘it is stuffy in here’ and we open a window in response, then it can be said that the phrase has a performative effect.