I like etymology.
Once in a while I encounter
a word I would have difficulty defining precisely if anyone asked me to. Sometimes
I’ll look up such terms and add them to my own vocabulary if they
seem likely to be useful. The process is almost always of some benefit, as you
get to see how words originate and what happens to them over time. It’s a
good feeling to be able to use words confidently and correctly.
But from a communication
perspective, there is no value in being technically correct about what a word
means when everyone around you thinks it means something else. And nobody should
want to be willfully ignorant. Somewhere in between technical accuracy and oblivion is a sweet spot
where we actually understand each other.
