Misunderstood

If you happen to catch me in a rare but low, sad mental state, it is usually because I am pondering the loss of our modern-day ability to truly communicate. The obligation I feel to hold my tongue in order to peacefully avoid triggering someone. It is what I am most often pondering when I read or listen to the news... The questions that aren't asked. The uselessness of the ones that are repeatedly asked. The nuance that is not acknowledged. The numbers that aren't included. The intent that is assigned.  And especially, the multiple meanings of words and the subjective thresholds for their applications. 

Sometimes it's just a symptom of pride or our natural love of a good caricature. Other times, it is a deliberate tactic. Mucking up our common language is one of those things I submit is deliberate. My questions is: When a word gets a new meaning, can I call dibs on inventing the new word that takes the place of the old word's meaning? Like Racism. A stroll through the "Recommended Reading" display at Target tells me that racism now means something else. I could spend an hour on that one alone, demonstrating how the new semantic overload takes advantage of the fact that most people with two brain cells to rub together are already against racism. It then shoehorns in additional concepts and philosophies that don't have to be related but are deliberately combined to force more people into going along. This is not new, nor is it slowing down.  

Today it's the definition of a riot (or, really, the definition of a protest - opening the tent to cover for riots). Because you have the feels for a specific group of people who are rioting, but riot is generally understood to be a bad thing. So you redraw the lines in order to categorize your pet movement into something more palatable. Can we please agree to stop it with the word games? Pretty pretty please with a sweet substance on top?