 In “A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs”, Donald Davidson argues that languages, if they are “anything like what many philosophers and linguists have supposed”, do not exist (1986: 446). He does not list the philosophers and linguists he has in mind, but somewhere near the centre of the cloud of positions he is criticizing is Lewis’s conventionalist  theory.[1]  More broadly, he rejects the notion of socially established links between expressions and meanings, shared participation in which enables a community to communicate. Davidson’s article is jargon-rich and so his argument is tricky to unpack. In this statement of it, we begin by explaining his formulation of the view he rejects, then outline his case against the view so  formulated.[2]