Quote:
Originally Posted by hobnail
I see this as one of the problems of being old, watching words change meaning or being "repurposed". My latest cringe is seeing gift used as a verb, as in gifted. Another one is using alternate when the correct word is alternative. But languages aren't static.
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I'm not exactly young by most definitions, I was walking when men first walked on the Moon. But I
LOVE watching words change meaning. My all time favourite is "nice" Many, many people who rant and froth and wail and mourn over words changing meaning over time conveniently forget that the very first use of "nice" in English was as a pejorative indicating mental deficiency. So if anybody gives me a sermon of the "X means this and always has" type, I just smile and say "that's nice".
