Blizzard

[cos]

"Blizzard" is a perfectly fine word that could serve us well for centuries. I wish we weren't calling every run-of-the-mill blizzard a "snowpocalypse".

True, it is a fun word. If we'd had it in '78 it would've come in handy. We made do with "blizzard" then.

Comments

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your sentiment of holding on to meaning without losing it in hyperbole. OTOH, I want my language to be a living, breathing entity that changes as we change, as anything that lives must change. OTGH, some things transcend such simple distinctions - if in talking about snow storms you refer to "the big one", any Masshole would know you mean the blizzard of '78 without further elucidation.

[cos]

I agree with you: I am in favor of language change, and do not resist language change merely because it's change. There are new words and usages I like, and ones I don't, but my reasons for liking or disliking them are completely orthogonal to "it's new".