Definitions are like standard weights and measures. Sure, they are arbitrary and vary by region and era. But there is money and power to be gained by exploiting the gradient between one and the other. Time and context allow this gradient, this relationship, to normalize fairly. For example: there were many weights of shekel, a unit of money, in the ancient world. They ranged between 7 and 17 grams--a massive difference ripe for exploitation. This is why the weights were typically prescribed by law (i.e. "A shekel is twenty gerahs" - Exodus 21:13; Babylonian and Phoenician shekels weighed more), providing public context. The stability and flourishing of civilization depended on it. Societies today are much larger than ancient societies, so laws today requiring calibration of weighing and measuring equipment are even more important. The goal (to take one example) is "...to provide consumers and businesses with a fair and efficient trade environment, to encourage business development, and to inspire consumer confidence." There is a lot of money to be made from falsification of weights and measures, this social and economic parasitism, and it comes from siphoning trust, an immense social currency. If we don't agree on a standard, or if the standard & context change abruptly, we won't trust, and commerce--and society itself--will grind to a halt. But some exploiters will get rich and powerful in the meantime. Linguistically, the idea is similar. One way folks get rich and powerful is by splitting synonyms: - sex and gender - human and person - equity and equality - fetus and child As I see it, the purpose of splitting synonyms (as with all language games) and redefining words is primarily to serve one's selfish interests. But it also serves to destroy culture--which contains millennia of accumulated wealth in technology, science, law, tradition, commerce, relationships, hierarchies, trust, families, virtues, and of course language, which is a vessel of all of this wealth--leaving unscrupulous types to loot the rubble. I view splitting synonyms as the cultural equivalent of splitting atoms. Splitting synonyms is really just another way of redefining words; i.e. - killing as healthcare - men as women Or strangifying words, using neologisms, or using technical jargon. But why? To empty concepts of their emotional content and manipulate political and moral sentiment more easily. i.e. - - fetal heartbeat vs fetal pole cardiac activity (which also happen to be synonyms) Beware those who want to change definitions quickly.

@garethjones123 @LittleHardman 👍🏼

This will make you smile 😃

@LittleHardman Sex = gender. The only reason to split synonyms is for nefarious purposes. Continue using sex and gender interchangeably.