The joys of language

Reading Silverstein today in hopes of getting something out of it, and thus being able to write my paper. All I got was in the description of conversational abbreviations:

A statement to another person in a room with an open window such as "I'm cold" or "It's cold in here" could lead to a discussion until the interlocutor is asked to close the window and does so. Or, more naturally for sophisticated persons in our society, we can abbreviate, the statement itself leading to the accomplishment of the action.

Meaning that sophisticated people, aka gentlemen, offer their coats when someone says it's cold. D'oh.