I do agree that words take on different meanings. But on the other hand, not every misuse of a word is such an instance (otherwise talking will be difficult).

I do agree that words take on different meanings. But on the other hand, not every misuse of a word is such an instance (otherwise talking will be difficult). In this case, a person (or many people) gave away their own belongings for free. To use the word "socialism" on such a phenomenon unironically would mean that socialism no longer describes a kind of society, as it now refers to individual choices. The meaning is fundamentally different. In that case, it should also lose all the negative connotations that come with its more formal meaning. In that conversation, it didn't; the neighbor named it socialism, as a snarky attack, which means he was still referring to the definition that describes a society. > you need to be willing to look past these kinds of issues and understand what is actually meant. I don't really know what the neighbor really meant when he said that it was socialism. What the commenter did was not related to any "-ism" as far as I can think of. Maybe the neighbor did it on purpose because he didn't like being on the other end of charity. Maybe he really didn't know what socialism means, never looked it up, and used it as he guessed from whatever he was reading.