skunked term
nounEtymology
Coined by American lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher Bryan A. Garner, and since adopted by some other style guides.
Definitions
A word that becomes difficult to use because it is transitioning from one meaning to…
A word that becomes difficult to use because it is transitioning from one meaning to another. Purists may insist on the old usage, while descriptivists are more open to newer usages.
- It isn't a skunked term, but it's gradually becoming something like one.
- When the skunked term has a different meaning, it's given in parentheses.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for skunked term. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA