A Vocabulary Malfunction

[poliphilo]

It happens all the time- people saying "ancestor" when they mean "descendant" and "descendant" when they mean "ancestor". And no-one ever picks them up on it.

If things carry on like this the two words are going to become interchangeable synonyms for "person in (my) family tree" and that would be a pity.

Comments

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Am personally getting fed-up of Humpty Dumpty ism. Refute does not equal deny (that's a dangerous one in the hands of politicians), disinterested and uninterested have two different meanings, etc etc

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't mind words changing meaning- but when- as in all these cases- they impoverish the language I think they should be resisted