wrong. lexicographers are not the authority on a word’s meaning. the definitions they provide are necessarily descriptive of the way words are or have been used, and say nothing about the actual meaning of the word. jackbydev got it right.
Wrong. By your logic, no words can ever have a meaning, because as soon as you write it down it becomes a definition which you say has nothing to do with the meaning of a word. Your logic is also just objectively wrong. You really think there has never been a prescriptive definition for a word? You really think every single dictionary writer is going out and interviewing every single person to utter a word and making sure that they only define it in the way that they have heard it used? What an asinine line of thought.
wrong. lexicographers are not the authority on a word’s meaning. the definitions they provide are necessarily descriptive of the way words are or have been used, and say nothing about the actual meaning of the word. jackbydev got it right.
Wrong. By your logic, no words can ever have a meaning, because as soon as you write it down it becomes a definition which you say has nothing to do with the meaning of a word. Your logic is also just objectively wrong. You really think there has never been a prescriptive definition for a word? You really think every single dictionary writer is going out and interviewing every single person to utter a word and making sure that they only define it in the way that they have heard it used? What an asinine line of thought.
You both got it wrong.
have you asked actual lexicographers?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism
scroll to "The History and Dictionary Meanings of Racism and Racist: Usage Guide "