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RE: Bringing a Dictionary to a Gun Fight! Why it Matters When We Redefine Words and their Meanings
I see what you mean how language affects history.
Good list, and I could add a few! I think of 'liberal' which meant something different once. Now, one must say "Classical" liberal to describe someone who thinks, for example, that everybody can have all the guns they want.
I just posted about some of this linguistic programming going on.
Well @therealpaul, I certainly was not trying to create the definitive lexicon of redefined terms and both ends of the political spectrum definitely engage in this. It would take a lot more than one post to really delve into it.
I thought of 'liberal' first mainly because it is so commonly mis-used, I usually stay clear of those polarizing topics myself
Yeah, I'm not afraid of polarizing, but I'm a pure libertarian, minarchist/anarchist, so I rarely have a dog in the fight and I like pissing them off and making them think! LOL
Yep I'm probably an anarchist (you know, funny mustache and explosions)
Another one, to my way of thinking, is "hero" that word used to mean someone who did something above and beyond their job, not just everyone who put on a uniform to serve the state.
that does water down the word. I think the problem is that the average person doesn't know how to find a similar word to convey their meaning.
There is a story that when Queen Victoria was commissioning the Victoria Cross she would not allow the medal to be for "bravery" because she felt any who went into battle were brave. The medal bears the words "For Valour". She had the capacity to find a word that fit her meaning rather than co-opting another.