This paper is a theoretical analysis of formal annotation and ontology for the expression of the semantics of document. They are found wanting in this respect, not only for technical reasons, but because they embody a fundamentally misunderstood model of the process of signification. I propose an alternative model in which the interpretation context plays a fundamental rôle in the definition of an _activity game_ that includes all actions performed on a document, including accessing external data. I briefly discuss it and its current technical embodiment.