this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2025
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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
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ok here’s three examples of exactly what the meme is referring to:
“Awful” originally meant “awe-inspiring” or “full of awe,” but frequent use to mean “very bad” eventually became the standard modern meaning.
“Peruse” traditionally meant “to read carefully,” but common casual use to mean “to skim or browse” has become widespread enough that dictionaries now record both senses.
“Nimrod” started as the name of a skilled biblical hunter, but repeated ironic use as an insult (for example, in cartoons... “Bugs Bunny”) led to its accepted modern sense of “fool” or “idiot.”
Language changes. Words mean what we say they mean since its all made up anyway.
The word that always comes to mind is 'literally' which has come to mean 'figuratively, but with emphasis' and it drives me nuts - because it removes the word we have to say 'this is a thing that you might assume is figurative, but it's not, it actually happened'.
Allow me to introduce you to my favorite portmanteau, "legiterally"
I was going to be that one in my list but I literally hate using the word …. 😉
Nimrod in the X-Men was badass. Probably more fitting to the original definition of the word.
These are your examples, not OPs. Your examples have no bearing on what OP may or may not have meant.
The content implies to me that OP have themselves been criticized and since your examples are all relatively antiquated I'm going to assume OP didn't mean them. Because who alive is out there saying "nimrod was actually pretty skilled" on lemmy?
The other alternative which is even worse is that OP literally just means language changes and this isn't in response to anything at all, it's just a pointless generic post restating a truism. But I choose not to believe that one either, although it seems to be the interpretation you've espoused.