My ex-wife HATED that phrase and I used it frequently. Cause? Effect? Subject for another post. But this mangled meaning is happening at an alarming rate. Been getting more frequent since the turn of the century to today it’s making communication downright unpossible. Example: Were I to say the Cleveland Browns won the Super Bowl in 2020 you might think I was crazy. You’d stomp your feet and declare that in FACT the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2020. But if my definition of “Cleveland Browns” is something along the lines of ” that football team from Mizzou that wears red and yellow and has a young QB named Mahomes” my statement would be correct but the resulting conversation would be painful.

And so it is with SO many words today. Coming from a PPE background my definition of Fascism is based on the early 20th Century European model. It does NOT mean “anything we don’t like.” Back in the 80’s I tended bar with a young British immigrant who, whenever the bar owner asked him to do anything, mumbled “fascist” under his breath. Usually with a good-natured smile. I’m thinking this stemmed from his fascination with The Young Ones and their fascination with punk music and it’s frequent labeling of Margaret Thatcher as a fascist. Regardless the word has been warped beyond all recognition to mean (IMHO) something quite different from its original intent.

see also: racism. and white priviledge. And recently “defund.”

a few highlights from the last month regarding the devaluing of the language:

Covid-19 Propaganda Phrases That Must Stop

How Coronavirus Would Transform These Famous American Sayings

When Did “Flatten The Curve” Become “Accept Our Authority?” For Gretchen Whitmer, the appropriate unit of time is the Planck interval.

We’re told not to take “defund the police” and “abolish the police” literally. “Why not use words that people can understand and that convey the meaning you want to put in our head? If your idea is so reasonable, why not use words that are effective in making people who care about peace and harmony agree with you?”

Depends on what you’re actually trying to accomplish.

Looting of Language, Leftist Strategy

YOU MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG, BUT THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG IS INTERESTED IN YOU: Merriam-Webster to Make Orwellian Update to the Definition of ‘Racism.’

and finally from the new paper of record: Merriam-Webster To Determine All Definitions Using Twitter Polls