It does bug me when I see less than precise language, though I’m sure somewhere in this comment I’ll be less than precise and someone will point it out. If you

It does bug me when I see less than precise language, though I’m sure somewhere in this comment I’ll be less than precise and someone will point it out. If you look up the definition, the spirit of the word is definitely not to convey companies or businesses. In fact, sometimes the word is used to denote an especially popular or longstanding restaurant with a strong, devout customer base, “this hot dog joint had become a New York institution”. Stuff like that is usually said in jest and/or as hyperbole. It’s possible for some companies to actually become institutions I think, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I don’t think size or date of founding matter, as I certainly wouldn’t call companies like Apple, Google, Walmart, or US Steel institutions. Funny enough, though, sometimes you can use it to describe something, such as institutional knowledge. Anyway, the article didn’t give off a pretentious vibe that some do with pseudo rigorous language etc, so it didn’t cause me any indigestion, lol.