3 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
Words have multiple meanings, definitely, but they’re agreed on by consensus usage. How words are used on Reddit is often NOT their consensus usage in mainstream discourse.
The Oxford English Dictionary is THE definitive scholarly source on documented, applied word usage and etymology in the English language. The OED is descriptive (reflects how the word is actually used and how we know) vs. prescriptive (how a word “ought” to be used). https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman%5C_n[1][2]
1: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman%5C_n
2: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman_n
It is reasonable and important to acknowledge when words have variant and changing definitions, and to be specific about which you are using and why. That’s what the OED does, and what all fair thinkers do.
It is unreasonable to insist that everyone should erase the most common meaning of long-established and important words like “woman” on demand in order to appeal to the preferences of a small proportion of English language speakers using the word differently for now.
Comment by maybe-perhaps-not at 14/01/2025 at 16:51 UTC
0 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Is it really unreasonable to advocate for how a word "ought" to be used? Even when an updated meaning would better serve humanity?
How are we to conciously improve our communication without ever insisting we deviate from established meanings?
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I find your use of "for now" at the tail end of your message to be interesting. Do you expect speakers that have deviated from Oxford Dictionary's "woman" will revert?