[Dirlewanger]

Ok, so what? It's not used in that context anymore. It's the same pitfall as the master/slave/blacklist/whitelist/etc. arguments: people have a problem divorcing historical meaning from present-day usage. Meanings change and evolve over time. If we follow this stunted logic, then there's going to be a lot of other English words/phrases that need to be banned as well. The only people associating them with their historical meanings are those wanting to ban the phrases. These etymological fallacies do nothing but pointlessly divide people. It needs to stop.

[cthalupa]

The term was coined in a derogatory manner because the person who coined the term thought it was a ridiculous concept.

No one is saying ban the word meritocracy, but people are saying that if you're arguing for one, you've missed the point.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

The concept that was considered ridiculous was only giving rich people access to the resources to make it in a meritocracy.

But for a while, the UK actually didn't do that. New universities were created, "grammar schools" were mostly replaced, new hiring practices adopted, and the stranglehold of the establishment was broken a little bit, for a little while.

That was because as ridiculous as the original idea might have been, good people with good intentions started to believe in "meritocracy", and used the idea to make changes.

[rafram]

The present-day usage of the term still refers to an impossibility.