Words can have no single fixed meaning. Like wayward electrons, they can spin away from their initial orbit and enter a wider magnetic field. No one owns them or has a proprietary right to dictate how they will be used.
Bio: Constance Hale is an American writer and critic based in San Francisco. Her journalism has appeared in metropolitan newspapers and national magazines, but she is best known for her books on language: Sin and Syntax, "Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, " and Wired Style.