4 ms·
That caught my attention too. The misuse is especially strange because the author both cites Doctorow and links to a definition in line with Doctorow's usage, b
by maxweylandt 3y ago
That caught my attention too. The misuse is especially strange because the author both cites Doctorow and links to a definition in line with Doctorow's usage, before then using it in a completely different sense
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/enshittification https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/enshittification
- krapp 3y agoIt isn't misuse - this is just how language works. Especially with what is essentially a meme word.
- maxweylandt 3y agoI'm not a prescriptivist when it comes to language; if a meaning evolves that's just dandy. I do think it's odd to link to a definition of a word as the author does, and then use it differently without explanation (potentially depriving the reader of some interesting insight into the phenomena under discussion, if the reasons are good). Secondly, doesn't 'misuse'really just mean 'used differently from how most people use it'? In which case, I think the descriptor probably applies, given the word's recent coinage and limited usage
- bavell 3y agoLanguage works through shared understanding.
- krapp 3y agoAnd you know what is meant by "enshittification" in the context being used, you just don't agree with the usage. Let's not pretend this word has decades of deep cultural and etymological history behind it. It's not a technical term or a term of art, it's a meme. It's something Cory Doctorow came up with in a blog post last year that only a few tech people care about. It's a hipster nerd poop joke. And because it fits cleanly into a description of anything hipster nerds consider to be "turning into shit," it inevitably will, until people get tired of the meme and move on.