Arguing that not all the classical and modified concepts of literal meaning in the literature are justified, this paper alternatively suggests to recognize three ways in which a meaning can be basic or minimal: linguistically, psychologically and interactionally. A meaning can be linguistically minimal because it is coded, compositional, and context-invariant; a meaning can be minimal because psycholinguistically it is the one foremost on our mind; and a meaning can be interactionally minimal because it is the privileged interactional interpretation that is communicated.