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Society keeps changing the definition of normal words
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2026
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Yeah the prescriptivism vs descriptivism debate still rages in linguistics. The prescriptivists have been losing for decades but arguments still abound in the academics.
And just because "goon" has changed meanings doesn't mean we don't lean on some prescriptivism. We still agree on singular definitions for lots of words (or at least contextual definitions for words with lots of different meanings).
The euphemism treadmill is particularly annoying in psychiatry. People keep using useful diagnostic labels as mean names for people they don't like then in an attempt to be respectful of the people we serve we use a different diagnostic label but then everybody has to learn and start using the new diagnostic label and by the time it reaches saturation it's already an insult again.