Language & WorldMental model

'The word really means …' is usually a fallacy.

The etymological fallacy: believing a word's origin fixes its true meaning. 'Decimate' meant killing every tenth Roman soldier; today it means to reduce drastically. 'Nice' comes from Latin 'nescius' (ignorant), 'silly' from Old English 'sælig', meaning blessed. Meaning is set by current usage, not history. Etymology explains where a word came from, not what it must mean now.

Useful: When someone argues 'the word really means', ask: 'And what does it mean today?'

Source: en.wikipedia.org

ArgumentierenMental model Wortherkunft

Difficulty:

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