The semantic-shift tag has no wiki summary.
1
vote
1answer
308 views
How common is the misuse of “literally” to mean “figuratively”? [closed]
This question
"Literally" and "Decimate" misuse
addresses the misuse of the word "literally" to mean its opposite. I am curious as to how prevalent is such misuse. My hunch ...
5
votes
3answers
233 views
Why and when did “breast” become gender-specific?
In the past, "breast" used to be applicable to both male and female chests, but is generally only gender neutral nowadays when used in certain contexts, such as "breast meat" or "breastplate". Why and ...
6
votes
2answers
226 views
Is the difference in “sake” in English and Japanese a form of semantic change?
In Japanese, "sake" means any alcoholic beverage, whereas in English, it means a particular beverage from Japan (Nihonshu, literally "Japanese alcohol").
Is this a case of semantic change, or is ...
17
votes
8answers
2k views
Does “criticism” imply positive as well as negative?
I thought I was always taught at school that criticism meant evaluation and opinion, either positive or negative. These days, it seems criticism, or to criticise, is almost exclusively used to mean ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views
“Decimate”: has it been used in the “classic” sense in modern writing?
In this question, I learned that "to decimate" meant to reduce by 10% (hope I got that right).
And it is lamented that no-one uses it in this sense anymore.
Now, given that I never until today knew ...
5
votes
1answer
167 views
Is there a technical term for the degeneration or evolution of words?
Based on this question, I was curious if there is an actual term that describes how words' meanings change or become deprecated over time.
10
votes
6answers
688 views
“Literally” and “Decimate” misuse
Recently I've heard American TV commentators say "[a person] was literally decimated" and "[a Senator] was literally thrown under the bus". In the first case I think the person was not actually 10% ...
