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It is not an incorrect meaning, it is that meaning of the word in English is different. What it meant in ancient Greek or in 1805 is not relevant to what it mea
by watwut 6mo ago
It is not an incorrect meaning, it is that meaning of the word in English is different. What it meant in ancient Greek or in 1805 is not relevant to what it means today.
Words meanings shift over time in all languages. And when languages take sounds from other languages, they also regularly shift their meanings.
- carlosjobim 6mo agoNo, there's an original and correct meaning. Just because a majority might be wrong, doesn't make them right.
- compiler-guy 6mo agoLanguage evolves. Historical meaning can inform our understanding of modern usage but doesn’t dictate or govern it. Linguists call this “semantic drift” and it occurs in every language we know of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change Wikipedias first English example is: Awful – Literally "full of awe", originally meant "inspiring wonder (or fear)", hence "impressive". In contemporary usage, the word means "extremely bad".
- jerf 6mo agoPossibly even more directly, the etymological fallacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy
- carlosjobim 6mo agoJust because we can - and should - understand what people mean when they use words wrongly, doesn't mean that words don't have correct meanings. That makes the world poorer, for no benefit at all.
- sumeno 6mo agoWhy aren't you responding in Old English then? Surely that would be more correct since it is closer to the origin
- carlosjobim 6mo agoWhy aren't you busy burning old manuscript and books, since they don't conform to your "new meaning" of words?
- compiler-guy 6mo agoBecause one of the principles involved here is that language evolves. Old books using old meanings are perfectly fine--in fact, it's to be expected. It's the purists who believe that original meanings are the only possibly correct ones that need to stick to old English. Or perhaps even old Norse.