Is the relatively recent growing interest in using the word “Performance” (from old French parfournir) among French theoreticians and artists a sign that the issue of action via pragmatism and Performance Studies is currently being revived? Is the term “Performance” also part of the turf language? A genetic study of the concept of action shows how difficult it was for proponents of an idea-based philosophy during the late nineteenth century to accept the validity of this concept. Furthermore, the fact that the word “Performance” belongs to sports vocabulary triggered its shift in the ideology of production and consumption economy.