Full Idea
Russell assumes that it is expressions which refer if anything does, but strictly speaking it is WE who refer with the use of expressions.
Gist of Idea
Russell assumes that expressions refer, but actually speakers refer by using expressions
Source
comment on Bertrand Russell (On Denoting [1905]) by David E. Cooper - Philosophy and the Nature of Language §4.1
Book Reference
Cooper,David E.: 'Philosophy and the Nature of Language' [Longman 1979], p.78
A Reaction
This sounds right. Russell is part of the overemphasis on language which plagued philosophy after Frege. Words are tools, like searchlights or pointing fingers.