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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7896558" data-attributes="member: 4937">So I think the problem here is you don't really know what my argument with respect to altering the definitions of a word actually is. That's partly my fault because I've been hesitant to open up another topic for argument, especially an explosive one.English is in my not so humble opinion a great language because it is so living and vibrant. It's a pure a cheap harlot, as the old saying goes. I prefer to think of it as being as pure as fertilizer. English is the sort of language that goes into the back alleys, knocks other languages over the head, and rifles through their pocket for loose vocabulary. I love the English language, and it does make me protective of it, but not in the way you are thinking.So in this thread, I've been happy to use the word &quot;discrimination&quot; and variants of it. It's a great case of a word that has evolved, quite recently, in the English vocabulary. Not that long ago, &quot;discrimination&quot; was a positive quality. Over time it began to be used more and more specifically to refer to unjust prejudices on the basis of race or other qualities. It makes me a little sad that I can't use the word in it's older sense and be easily understood, but English has a bunch of words to express ideas and I can work around it. That's language evolving as part of a natural process.But there are other ways that a language can change, and that's by deliberate attack on it using terms of art to render a word less meaningful.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are a ton of words in the English language that now mean both one thing, and it's opposite.&nbsp; And this hasn't happened by accident.&nbsp; It's been a deliberate attack by certain philosophers and academics who want to render thinking more difficult in order to advance agendas.&nbsp; It is literally the behavior warned about in the novel 1984 where a language is being deliberately constructed to confuse thought.&nbsp;&nbsp; And it's actually happening.&nbsp; And in certain quarters, you can get people to admit that that is what they are doing - all for the best of reasons of course.&nbsp; That I very much oppose.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7896558, member: 4937"] So I think the problem here is you don't really know what my argument with respect to altering the definitions of a word actually is. That's partly my fault because I've been hesitant to open up another topic for argument, especially an explosive one. English is in my not so humble opinion a great language because it is so living and vibrant. It's a pure a cheap harlot, as the old saying goes. I prefer to think of it as being as pure as fertilizer. English is the sort of language that goes into the back alleys, knocks other languages over the head, and rifles through their pocket for loose vocabulary. I love the English language, and it does make me protective of it, but not in the way you are thinking. So in this thread, I've been happy to use the word "discrimination" and variants of it. It's a great case of a word that has evolved, quite recently, in the English vocabulary. Not that long ago, "discrimination" was a positive quality. Over time it began to be used more and more specifically to refer to unjust prejudices on the basis of race or other qualities. It makes me a little sad that I can't use the word in it's older sense and be easily understood, but English has a bunch of words to express ideas and I can work around it. That's language evolving as part of a natural process. But there are other ways that a language can change, and that's by deliberate attack on it using terms of art to render a word less meaningful. There are a ton of words in the English language that now mean both one thing, and it's opposite. And this hasn't happened by accident. It's been a deliberate attack by certain philosophers and academics who want to render thinking more difficult in order to advance agendas. It is literally the behavior warned about in the novel 1984 where a language is being deliberately constructed to confuse thought. And it's actually happening. And in certain quarters, you can get people to admit that that is what they are doing - all for the best of reasons of course. That I very much oppose. [/QUOTE]

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