HEADS UP!!! LOOK OUT!!!

These two phrases are more likely situational. So I might be treading the line of if they're performative or not. However, they did come to mind when I thought of the idea of saying something that means something else; or taking action to a command in result of the social understanding of what that command is.

For example: if someone were to shout out "Heads up!!" it most likely means something is falling from a higher elevation than the plane you are currently standing on. It doesn't even matter if you know the circumstances of what is happening or who actually said it. Your immediate reaction is going to try to move from your current spot to a, hopefully, safer place to avoid the danger. Or if you consider yourself to have enhanced skillz, DO A BARREL ROLE!!

What if we actually "obeyed" the command HEADS UP!!? If someone were to hear this shouted and took the command literally, one would simply raise there head up and look to the sky to be hit or smacked by the probably dangerous object (be it a baseball, wrench, or piano) and then receive consequences resulting in a bump on the head, serious injury, or even death.

The same concept goes for "LOOK OUT!!!" If someone says "Look out!", they most probably don't want you to actually stop what your doing and look for the incoming potential danger, but rather get down, duck, or get behind something.

Here's where these two phrases have the potential to be performative. If society accepts "Heads up!" and "Look out!" as warning signs/a command to move your butt, then couldn't someone shout these phrases solely to get a reaction out of innocent by standers or even test people to see if they react, or what actions they take?

For example: Back in my younger years when I was a junior in high school, whenever I would take a ride with my friends we would play a game. I would sit in the passenger seat as my friend drove, and we would usually have one or two people sitting in the back. I would then role down the window and shout to pedestrians on the sidewalk "LOOK OUT!!!" Not once did anyone actually stop and look for something as I instructed, but rather they would jump left or right, or do a 180 to face the non-existent threat I had just created.

So, in conclusion, because I had an audience (my friends in the back and my driver), and I knew I could get a reaction out of a complete stranger based on social norms, I  believe "Heads up!" and "Look out!" to be potential performative utterances/acts.