Within the study of language and social interaction, the concept of 'accountability'-including related concepts, such as 'account' or 'motive, ' 'accounting, ' and 'being accountable'-has been of longstanding interest in terms of how interactants in both ordinary and organizational contexts manage their image or reputation, as well as how they achieve mutual understanding. However, these concepts are polysemous, with different senses being rather dramatic, such as accountability as 'moral responsibility' and accountability as 'intelligibility.' Even today this fact is not always remembered or...