Author: Kevin Dickinson / Source: Big Think
The way of words
Much to the exasperation of sticklers and pedants everywhere, words change meaning. It’s a natural, unavoidable part of our language, and socialism is a word undergoing such an evolution. Of course, we’ve been here before.
As linguist John McWhorter notes: “[I]deological positions are mostly fixed but the labels that are affixed to them are subject to change.
People can make up a new word, or use an old one in a new way, at any time. However, the things that these words describe often change more slowly, and lend a new word their overtones despite hopes that a new coinage could avoid or transform them.”That quote comes from an article McWhorter wrote for…
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