Examples: Gay used to mean carefee and happy, not homosexual. Technology used to mean a variety of things relating to science and engineering, not only microprocessing and computer programming.
2007-01-03 22:20:16 · 4 answers · asked by Dr Sid 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I know what you mean. I think the more and more people use these words in those contexts,(i.e. gay meaning homosexual) the more people just associate it with that, which is a shame. If you look in older books and watch older movies 'gay' was fastive and possibly colorful. I have a cookbook that says 'place gay radishes on the side for a festive garnish'- I know that they are not homosexual radishes, but some younger people might. LOL!!!
2007-01-03 22:26:29 · answer #1 · answered by misteri 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not worried. Language is fluid, it always changes. If not we would still be saying thee and thou....how fun would that be. Think of other words, 'space' for instance. 100 years ago, space was just a place to put stuff....now it is a place to go! :-))
Sanction has always had a double, yet opposite meaning - also called a contronym. I do agree that because of the focus on international issues, the negative definition of the term has become more in the focus of the general public.
2007-01-04 06:34:04 · answer #2 · answered by Wattleseed 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Sanction" use to mean to condone or to approve, now it means the exact opposite as in the UN sanctioning Iran and N Korea. While I can somewhat buy that language is a fluid thing, in a constant state of change, these changes seem more like quantum leaps rather than a smooth flow.
2007-01-04 10:09:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hate it when people verb nouns, and just make up words to fit a need that is fully described by already existing words.
I REFUSED to access my accounts, I still gain access to them.
People are disrespectful, they show disrespect... DON'T VERB IT.
GRRRR
2007-01-04 06:27:17 · answer #4 · answered by ihave5katz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋