[turaw]

Fair enough :/ it just feels like 'misusing' words is disrespectful to their source, as though a lack of effort was taken to use it 'properly' (air quotes since those are highly subjective terms). In a detached sense, I suppose seeing semantic change [1] in action is neat, but it is still just the tiniest bit depressing.

edit: Ah! Also cool is dental cement [2] which is, as the name would imply, used in dentistry (but without any aggregate equivalent!).

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_cement

[pdabbadabba]

Totally agree. Even if "concrete" and "cement" can "properly" be used interchangeably, I myself prefer to use words in a way that recognizes these sorts of distinctions. It keeps language more information rich and historically connected. (And keeps me from being looked down upon by well-educated people who, like myself, incline towards language snobbery :))