Redefining Words for Profit

The other day, I heard a supervisor in a big box store telling an employee that his next duty was to work on fast track. Being in a meddlesome mood, I asked what that meant, since it clearly was not a quick way to management or something. Instead, it was the plastic strip at the base of a shelf that holds price labels.

Something I have emphasized many times (and occasionally forget) is the importance of word definitions in discussions. Businesses, regions, and so on have their own special words. A problem exists when established words are redefined to fit an agenda.

Dictionary Page, Unsplash / Romain Vignes

The word evolution has several different meanings, but the most frequent connotation is of particles-to-pedagogue evolution — Darwin's disciples gleefully exploit that connotation. Also, professing atheists become furious — furious, I tell you — when it is pointed out that atheism is a religion. They say, "We don't worship a deity!" as they cry in their beer. They choose to ignore other definitions and examples of deity-free religion that prove them wrong.

Sometimes words change over time. Dictionaries do not tell us what is correct, necessarily, but how it is used. 

It has been suggested that people download dictionaries from the past for reference, but not necessarily all the way back to Noah Webster. Online dictionaries can change at a moment's notice. Meanings are often rewritten to support immoral leftist and atheistic viewpoints, and to demonize God, the Bible, and Christians.

Have you ever had a difficult time understanding someone? For me, this happens frequently with my daughter. Not only does she have difficulty pronouncing various words, but sometimes, she also uses the wrong words. For a few months, she would say it was “so cold outside,” even though it was the middle of a hot summer. While that one was easy to figure out, others have been more difficult. Once, she said that she wanted her “pink cup,” and it took me a good bit to realize she wanted another cup but had just forgotten the name of the color she meant. The worst for me was when she would say she wanted “daddy,” but she ACTUALLY wanted mommy; she just had been using the wrong name. Now that was disappointing!

I would like to tell the author that I read where a child was saying, "Mama," but was pointing at the cat. Anyway, it would be in your best interest to read the rest of "The Subtle Altering of Our Language" and see some interesting examples. You may be interested in my article from 2013, "Science, Evolution and the New Golden Rules."