The problem is that we try to defend you, @MerriamWebster, by correcting incorrect usage, but you eventually undermine our support by saying: "If people are wrong long enough, then we give in and make them right." (See, for example, how "literally" now also means "figuratively.")

@JeffersRoad It’s not “giving in,” it’s documenting how people actually use the language. Dictionaries define the breadth of the language, and not simply the elegant parts at the top.

@MerriamWebster I understand your reasoning, but where does it end? If enough people say down means up and alive means dead, will @MerriamWebster say, "Well, that's how people actually use the language"? Or, as with "could care less," folks actually mean the opposite but don't recognize it?

@JeffersRoad Hopefully language never ends.

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster Yes, they should document that, because that is the most useful information for someone who hears a word and wants to know what the speaker meant by it. You are free to start a Dictionary of Proper English as It Should Be According to JeffersRoad, if you wish.

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster It...it doesn't "end". At one point usage of the word "internet" was seen as incorrect - it was always capitalized as a name. In 2026, that's not the case Language shifts...some things become archaic, other things take their place, new things become the norm. That's how it works

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster The point is that language is ever changing and evolving. Calling something a “moot point” used to mean that it’s still arguable or debatable. Now it means it’s not worth arguing anymore. The only language that never changes is a dead one

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster If enough people say "quick" and "fast" mean "speedy" instead of meaning "alive" and "abstain from food", should we just cave in on that and agree that they mean that? Should we allow people to use the newfangled idiom "head over heels" instead of the logical "heels over head"?

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster Look guys he's learning how languages evolve and grow!

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster Well people from the past used to call purple onions as red onions because the term purple hasn’t been invented yet. So to follow your logic, we should try to correct the usage by calling them purple onions instead? Language is always evolving.

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster but sometimes down does mean up – “i’m down for that hike” in a way means “i’m up for the challenge”. they are just showcasing all the new nuances that we’ve imbued into old words.

@JeffersRoad @MerriamWebster So, this is the way language evolves. Dictionaries are duty bound to reflect the times and evolve with "current" usages of a word. There's a lot of language we use commonly today that had entirely different meanings at its origin. They're just doing their job, promise.