Word Wizardry

Change a word, change the meaning.

   Words are fashionable. They come in and go out of favor for a myriad of reasons, and a word can grow from a coined word to slang to acceptable to overuse in just a few weeks. And in the course of its growth cycle, it can just as quickly become a standard part of the language. Or, in the case of teenagers, it can be dropped by its prime movers as soon as another group, such as parents, pick it up and start using it.
   Society's sense of propriety can also determine whether a word can be used, and in what circumstances.
   Time was, many four-letter Anglo-Saxon terms were seldom used in what was called "polite society," but now are heard regularly on television and seen more often in print.
   Along the way, marketers, advertisers and those with a special interest in encouraging or demeaning a practice or a product invent "new" words to influence readers and listeners.
   Does this really change the meaning? Or is it a subtle attempt to promote one concept as it demeans another?
   Example: GOP leaders have taken to referring to their opposition as the "Democrat" party, as a way of suggesting that the group is not really "democratic."
   Here's another example: Pharmaceutical companies often use initials to mention a condition that their latest concoction will help to relieve, without mentioning just what those initials stand for. When pressed, they will use arcane Latin words to spell out what the initials stand for. This, of course, tells consumers nothing, unless they remember what little Latin they learned in high school.
   Specifically, one TV commercial claims the product "helps to relieve symptoms of BPH." Whatever that is. It turns out the BPH stands for "benign prostate hyperplasia," which sounds even more catastrophic, especially for men concerned about the dangers of a prostate problem.
   Until you remember that "benign" means that it's relatively harmless, and "hyperplasia" means only that it's enlarged. Granted, eventually, perhaps, over a period of years, an enlarged prostate may become a problem. Then again, it may not. In any case, it may well take 20 or 30 years or more until it does. And in that time ...
   Meanwhile, there are indeed words that are hateful. But there are also words that are appropriate and should be used, instead of variations that suggest extra benefit or harsher results that don't really exist.
   As Humpty Dumpty said, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
   But Alice objected: "The question is, whether you can make words mean so many different things."
   "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."
   Welcome to the Wonderland of Words, with deep respect to Lewis Carroll.