This chapter proposes a pragmalinguistic and metapragmatic approach to the field of this volume. That is to say, it discusses how ‘taboos’ are being linguistically constructed and socially (reflexively) negotiated. Against the backdrop of this perspective, the chapter poses the hypothesis that taboos are all but ‘unsayable’, as is often construed. On the contrary, they are used and reflected on in communication extensively. To back this claim, the chapter introduces results from pragmalinguistic and linguistic-anthropological research on taboos and connects them with core concepts and assumptions of interactional and metapragmatic sociolinguistics. To begin with, the chapter discusses the observation that taboos are highly salient in social discourse. From this, the chapter infers that it is their ‘sayability’, of all things, which make taboos socially available. A discussion of pragmalinguistic results then reveals how taboos are being construed from this particular perspective: as context-dependent regimentations of communicative behavior against the backdrop of specific language regimes. By including metapragmatics, it is further argued that the ideological framing of communication and the indexical meaning of performative forms is key to an understanding of taboos in society. As the chapter argues in conclusion, it is this metapragmatic dimension that invests taboos with social meaning and communicative power.