a dictionary’s job is to catalgue woros as they are used.

Sure, because language is a living thing that evolves over times, but I still don’t like how this is thrown around any time a word is misused. This is also one of the problems that might have reached or be reaching a tipping point with communication becoming so fast and widespread with the internet.

At the end of the day, the point of language is to communicate concepts and ideas to other people, but the faster words change the more often you have miscommunication; and also the harder it becomes to talk about certain topics or communicate concepts because the word used to define it changes, like in this case.

To give another example: the word “libertarian” was originally associated with socialism but was co-opted by capitalists, so now if you say you are libertarian most people will assume you mean libertarian capitalist; because of this a lot of people began using the world “anarchist” instead, but that has also shifted to be synonymous with “chaos”. This means it is a lot harder to talk about these ideas and concepts because the words used to describe them have been given completely different meanings.

And speaking of language, I want to share this article by Orwell that perhaps not many have seen.:

Excerpt:

It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.