   In his 1905 paper, “On denoting,” Russell embraced the view that neither ‘Pegasus’ nor in fact most proper names of natural languages are genuine ‘logical’ proper names. He held the epistemological view that unless one is directly acquainted with something, one cannot use in thought or language a genuine ‘logical’ proper name referring to it. Nor can one entertain a genuine singular thought about it. If one is not directly acquainted with an object, then one must instead form a general thought that is not about any particular individual. In fact, Russell’s (1911, 1919) held a dual view of acquaintance: on the one hand, he thought that acquaintance is a relation that can only hold between someone’s mind and his or her own sense data. On the other hand, he held the view that one can be acquainted with universals (such as e.g., colors). If most—if not all—names of natural languages are not genuine ‘logical’ names, then what are they and what is their function in human thought and communication? On Russell’s view, they are “disguised” or abbreviated definite descriptions, i.e., they are short for some definite description. Their logical function is that of a definite description.