• Ech@lemmy.ca
    1762·
    3 days ago

    And grok used to mean “understand”, not “nazi shithead propaganda machine”.

    • WanderingThoughts
      50·
      3 days ago

      And meme used to refer to a unit of cultural information that spreads by imitation, not a funny picture on social media.

      • TheBlindPew@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        41·
        3 days ago

        In fairness to memes, that definition is still largely true, its just that the common usage tends to refer to this specific form of meme. Like with squares and rectangles, not all anthropological memes are image macros, but all image macro memes are a subset of anthropological memes

    • Cease@mander.xyz
      157·
      3 days ago

      Yeah no sorry the origin was always gross. Stranger in a strange land is just heinlein’s weird fetish porn where he justifies old men sleeping with young girls (sound familiar?)

      And grok was always a term used by weirdos who thought the book was deep for some crazy reason and wanted to sound like they were part of this insider intellectuals club

      • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        2 days ago

        What? He gets freaky in some other books, but Stranger is pretty clean for a free love manifesto. Every character I can think of was a full grown adult, I don’t think there’s a single scene even euphemistically depicting an old man sleeping with a young girl. All the sex even referred to was between people of relatively close age.

        Grok just means to understand/drink fully. You drink water, and it becomes a part of your body. You understand an idea, and it becomes part of your mind. It’s an efficient word to communicate “understanding something fully enough to functionally incorporate it into your worldview”. It’s not that intellectual.

      • AlteredEgo@lemmy.ml
        12·
        3 days ago

        That’s a rather puritan and skewed perspective. Afaik Stranger in a Strange Land is a very weird book but very tame and not pornographic at all. And it was an important artwork that explored the themes of the 60s sexual revolution. A time where people knew very little about sex and gender and questioned everything.

      • KingOfSleep@lemmy.ca
        15·
        3 days ago

        Please don’t interpret this as a defense of Robert Heinlein’s books as it has been decades since I read them and it sounds like you might be more familiar with them. But weren’t all the women in Stranger in a Strange Land older than Michael Valentine Smith?

        Are you confusing the character with Lazarus Long from Time Enough for Love, et al? I think he was thousands of years older than some of his (adult) love interests…

      • Ech@lemmy.ca
        1·
        3 days ago

        I dunno. I only ever used it as shorthand for being able to understand the basics of something. Also, words can change for the better. So in this case it went gross -> fine -> gross.

    • naught101@lemmy.world
      31·
      3 days ago

      I’m going to keep using it as a verb. If people are dumb enough to assume I’m dumb enough to use xai, that’s not my problem.

    • M137@lemmy.world
      21·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, you did hire goons, but you wanted gooners… And who is that to right one supposed to be? How is a maffia boss some dude with what looks like an assassin cloak with “Evil” written on it?

  • Almacca@aussie.zoneEnglish
    17·
    3 days ago

    “Gimme the good old days when a pair of boobs were a couple of dumb guys.” - Sheriff Buford T. Justice

    Edited to fix attribution. I was sure it was Dangerfield, but DDG says otherwise.

  • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
    20·
    3 days ago

    I miss when gay means happy.

    Okay I’m not that old but i had a boss who said he’s old enough to remember when gay literally means happy.

    For me, my little pet peeve is when society changed the meaning of ironic to mean joking or satirical.

  • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
    7·
    2 days ago

    Goon literally started out as the big nosed henchmen of the sea hag in the Popeye comic strip in the 1930s. It got applied to refer to anti-union fighters very quickly before it became a general purpose word meaning low-level henchman.

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.socialEnglish
    46·
    3 days ago

    You think you’re annoyed?

    image

    The Goon by Eric Powell.

    In a town full of zombies, degenerates, mad scientists, and assorted weirdos a two fisted thug runs things his way.

  • Tango@piefed.caEnglish
    201·
    3 days ago

    Ironically (given the original name of this community), the ancient Chinese had entire discourses on the idea that in order for society to function correctly, people needed to be able to agree what words meant.

    A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music will not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.

    –Master Kong (AKA Confucius)

    https://ctext.org/analects/zi-lu

    The established names of the later kings: penal and legal terms followed those of Shang, noble titles followed those of Zhou, literary titles followed those of Li. As for miscellaneous names applied to all things, they conformed to the established customs and conventions of Zhuxia; in distant regions with different local customs, these were adapted accordingly for general understanding.

    As for miscellaneous names applied to people: the inherent nature that causes a person to be what he is called “xing.” The harmony of xing gives rise to refined interactions and responsive 感应; when things occur effortlessly and naturally without deliberate action, this is called xing. The inclinations of xing—liking, disliking, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—are called qing. When the emotions arise and the mind makes choices in response, this is called lü (deliberation). When the mind deliberates and is thus able to act intentionally, this is called wei. When deliberation accumulates and becomes habitual, and only then achieves formation, it is called wei. Acting in accordance with what is righteous and beneficial is called shi (affairs or actions). Acting in accordance with righteousness is called xing (conduct or behavior). The capacity for knowledge within a person is called zhi. When knowledge aligns with something, it is called zhi (wisdom). The capacity for action within a person is called neng. When ability aligns with something, it is also called neng (capability). When xing is harmed, it is called bing (illness or affliction). A person’s encounter with measured circumstances is called ming (fate or destiny): these are the miscellaneous names applied to people, and they represent the established terms of later kings.

    Therefore, when a sovereign establishes names, once names are fixed and realities distinguished, the Way is put into practice and aspirations become clear; thus, he carefully leads the people toward unity. Therefore, to split words and arbitrarily create names in order to confuse established terms, causing the people to be doubtful and leading to frequent disputes among them, is called a great jian (great villain or great wrongdoer). Their crime is still akin to that of falsifying tokens, seals, and measurements. Therefore, the people dare not fabricate strange words to confuse established names; thus, their people are sincere and upright. Sincerity makes them easy to lead, and being easy to lead leads to public harmony. The people dare not fabricate strange terms to confuse established names, so they remain unified in the Way and law, and are careful to follow commands. If this is done, then their legacy will be enduring. An enduring legacy and accomplished achievements represent the highest attainment of governance. This is the achievement of carefully upholding the conventions of names. Now that the sage kings have passed away, the guardianship of names has become lax; strange terms arise, and the correspondence between names and realities becomes confused. When the forms of right and wrong are unclear, even those officials who uphold the law and Confucian scholars who recite canonical texts also fall into disorder. If a sovereign were to arise, he would surely follow established names while also creating new ones as needed. Therefore, the reasons for having names, the basis on which things are deemed the same or different, and the essential principles of establishing names must not be overlooked.

    –Master Xun

    https://ctext.org/xunzi/zheng-ming

    Of course, there are also plenty of modern examples of how unclear communication can cause catastrophe.

    • cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      3 days ago

      I find it interesting how obsessed the Chinese are with the quality of Chinese spoken someone speaks and also how people who can pun super hard are absolutely hilarious.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
        3·
        3 days ago

        I wonder if it’s because the Chinese language (and I’m assuming we’re talking about Mandarin because there are many Chinese languages) is tonal based. The same word could mean differently based on the pronunciation so there are people who could be stickler for rules.

    • Donkter@lemmy.world
      1·
      3 days ago

      Yeah the prescriptivism vs descriptivism debate still rages in linguistics. The prescriptivists have been losing for decades but arguments still abound in the academics.

      And just because “goon” has changed meanings doesn’t mean we don’t lean on some prescriptivism. We still agree on singular definitions for lots of words (or at least contextual definitions for words with lots of different meanings).

      • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        2 days ago

        The euphemism treadmill is particularly annoying in psychiatry. People keep using useful diagnostic labels as mean names for people they don’t like then in an attempt to be respectful of the people we serve we use a different diagnostic label but then everybody has to learn and start using the new diagnostic label and by the time it reaches saturation it’s already an insult again.