If you'd take a look you'd find that most any word is used extremely loosely. That's why dictionaries contain vague circumscriptions of words, often listing as

If you'd take a look you'd find that most any word is used extremely loosely. That's why dictionaries contain vague circumscriptions of words, often listing as many as 20 overlapping and/or separate word senses. Which is not to deny that people operate with the idea that words have a definite, literal meaning (perhaps even neatly delineated with necessary and sufficient conditions), it's just not the reality. So yes, when a particular use of a word is common, it's very hard to argue it's not right, because there are no facts to point at, only an idea in someone's head (but who's to say who is right?), or some historical data (but languages change, and prima facie that's neither good nor bad).