Greg EganMay 23, 2023
“The core meaning of refute is ‘prove a statement or theory to be wrong.’ In the second half of the 20th century a more general sense developed, meaning simply ‘deny.’ Traditionalists object to this newer use as a degradation of the language, but it is widely encountered.”
Keep “refute”≈“disprove”
84.5%
Let the meaning blur
15.5%
Poll ended at .
Show threadStephen J. AndersonMay 23, 2023
@gregeganSF I think you can’t fight language shifts. I learnt this lesson watching the meaning of “hacker” blur, and “literally” and “actually” fade into intensifiers
Show threadGreg Egan

@utterfiction What happens, happens, but these things aren’t predetermined independently of any discussion of the merits of the change.

The misuse of “literally” and “actually” are especially dumb, but the original meanings haven’t been literally extinguished — nor I suspect have they even become an arcane, pedantic minority usage — and they might never be.

May 23, 2023 at 8:04amWeb
Show threadJeremy SmythMay 23, 2023

@gregeganSF @utterfiction

Words like "refute" and "literally" have a nuanced meaning that becomes lost when softened, and no other word has the same efficiency. I wonder is that because the generation that effects the change hasn't yet got the sophistication to (1) see the nuance and (2) value the lost nuance.

I aso wonder will we see similar effects with words like "resile" that aren't yet in common usage, but might fork in the same way when they meet the waves of varying language usage.

Show threadΣ(i³) = (Σi)²May 23, 2023
@jeremysmyth @gregeganSF @utterfiction the "generation", eh?
Show threadJeremy SmythMay 23, 2023

@SvenGeier @gregeganSF @utterfiction

Touché!

Show threadIan HolmesMay 23, 2023
@gregeganSF @utterfiction well yeah, but there IS a “prescriptive vs empirical linguistics” debate; and if we ARE going to be picky about the meanings of words, I’d say that “Keep” and “Let” are definitely prescriptive words. Anyway, I’m voting “Keep” because I think (on the basis of this toot) you want an aesthetic judgment, not an earnest (and inevitably misguided) attempt to prescribe.