On the London Underground, you can hear the words “mind the gap” as a warning of the sometimes significant gap between the train door and the station platform. If unnoticed, this gap poses a serious danger of tripping. The same is true for the potential gap between social structure and semantics. As social structures rapidly change, the adjustment of semantics often lags behind. Yet, if the semantic categories used in society are no longer compatible with its social structure, it will be difficult to effectively identify and address the relevant societal problems. Extending this Luhmannian argument, the article puts forward the research program of „ordonomics”. The ordonomic approach as developed here makes use of an institutional rational-choice analysis in order to systematically explore the interdependence between social structure and semantics. This approach is particularly powerful when applied to the discussion of normative categories. By this logic, the paper uses the ordonomic framework to critically reflect common notions of normative categories such as justice, solidarity, responsibility, sustainability, and corporate citizenship. Based on this analysis, the article spells out implications for the way teaching is carried out in the social sciences; it argues for a new framework of interdisciplinary cooperation and identifies potentials for mutual learning.