this post was submitted on 08 May 2026
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Words mean what people think they mean when they say them. Nothing else. Miscommunication can occur if the speaker and listener don't have the same concept in their head, but it doesnt change the fact that words are just people serializing their thoughts into sounds or text. Dictionaries are not prescriptive, they are documentative.
All the more reason to really reflect on how we use words. When there's confusion and misunderstanding, should we just accept it because that's how it is, or should we consciously decide if we are helping or hurting communication through the words we choose to use?
Not exactly. If I were to tell you that I believe in creationism and that the world is 6000 years old, but that it means what you think evolution and cosmology mean and that I'm just using different words, you probably still wouldn't want me teaching your kids in school about science.
Or, at least, I would hope not.
We were talking about colloquial use of a word like "literally", and not entire bodies of science being replaced with religious terms. Those two things are not even remotely similar.
Okay but that's a dishonest argument. Sure reality is just perception and perception is unique to the individual. All that said words have meaning which we have agreed upon. Otherwise I could write gibberish, call it meaningful text, and prove anything. It's the fact that words have specific meanings which makes them useful. Otherwise it's baby talk and that's cute but not great for communication.
Yes, communication works best when people agree on what words mean, and a great, great many people have agreed that "literally" means things other than "literally". It's not gibberish to use it as such.
It's not a dishonest argument at all. Language is not prescriptive. It's constantly evolving. New words are invented all the time, and old words take on new meanings all the time.
Do you ever use "awesome" to mean "super cool"? Congratulations, you're misusing the word! How about "egregious" as in a bad error? Wrong! How about "fantastic" as meaning "wonderful" or "great"? Also wrong.
Even when words do have specific meaning, if you don't know the meaning they are useless to you, so it might as well be gibberish. Can you speak Swahili? Does that mean it's gibberish? Of course not.