http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appropriating http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appropriating I'm quibbling over words too. But the differenc

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appropriating http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appropriating I'm quibbling over words too. But the difference to me is that the problem is not that "hacking" (or "hippie culture", "patriot", "environmentalism", or "American") gets used in a context at odds with what its founders would espouse. It's that a lot of times that secondary (historically speaking) definition then becomes the dominant definition in the public's mind. Whatever mutually exclusive word for that is the one I want to use. Because, ultimately, it doesn't matter a rat's ass if my local LUG knows the more positive definition of a hacker, if a geeky 8-year old with a penchant for figuring out interesting things to do with computers is surrounded by exposure (news, adults, school, popular media) to the negative definition.