i do have a problem with intentionally mutilating words tho… like “parentification” and “enshitification”…
although the second is a little bit funny…
or when people intentionally redefine words… like racism as meaning “systemic and systematic racism as experienced by non-whites by whites in america” and as such it’s impossible to be “racist” against white people…
but it’s just stupid… racism and “systemic racism” are two different concepts…
I don’t really understand your point. Portmanteaus and coining new words are useful in conveying complex concepts, though. If you wanted to have a conversation about parentification would you rather have one word to encompass that or have to say “the effect of having to be a care giver to your caregivers during your formative years” every time you need to reference that concept in the discussion.
What makes that a mutilation instead of more efficient?
The racism thing is confusing because racism encompasses both forms but there are specific descriptors for unique expressions of the same thing. Just like a square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn’t necessarily a square. That’s not really redefining, systemic racism has been racism the whole time, too. We’re just aware enough to have discussions about the specific ways it effects society today.
Edit: redefining “literally” to accommodate people using incorrectly on the other hand was a misstep for the English language, though. So I don’t necessarily disagree, I just think you picked bad examples.
i do have a problem with intentionally mutilating words tho… like “parentification” and “enshitification”…
although the second is a little bit funny…
or when people intentionally redefine words… like racism as meaning “systemic and systematic racism as experienced by non-whites by whites in america” and as such it’s impossible to be “racist” against white people…
but it’s just stupid… racism and “systemic racism” are two different concepts…
I don’t really understand your point. Portmanteaus and coining new words are useful in conveying complex concepts, though. If you wanted to have a conversation about parentification would you rather have one word to encompass that or have to say “the effect of having to be a care giver to your caregivers during your formative years” every time you need to reference that concept in the discussion.
What makes that a mutilation instead of more efficient?
The racism thing is confusing because racism encompasses both forms but there are specific descriptors for unique expressions of the same thing. Just like a square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn’t necessarily a square. That’s not really redefining, systemic racism has been racism the whole time, too. We’re just aware enough to have discussions about the specific ways it effects society today.
Edit: redefining “literally” to accommodate people using incorrectly on the other hand was a misstep for the English language, though. So I don’t necessarily disagree, I just think you picked bad examples.