[lillesvin]

Come on. Following that logic you'll be hard pressed to speak a full meaningful sentence about a topic because, not surprisingly, language evolves!

"Steal" has been used as "copy" long enough that it's part of the standard usage now (and has been for a long time), just like "literally" being used as an intensifier, or "cool" meaning "good" as opposed to referring strictly to temperature.

And it's likely not even a misconception (like "a napron" => "an apron" was) but rather a conceptual metaphor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_metaphor), which is what helps you understand that you shouldn't be afraid of cutting yourself on someone's "sharp wit", and that you don't need to bring a ladder shopping even though "prices are rising".

Hell, even "conception" (as in "misconception") was originally only used for talking about literal pregnancies, the metaphorical extension didn't come about until the 14th century (source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/conception). Or is that okay? If so, how old does a semantic extensions have to be to be accepted into the lexicon?

[capsulecorp]

> not surprisingly, language evolves!

It sure does, did I say otherwise or was that just the easiest straw-man you could attack? I contend the word in its current form is evolved to not include piracy. Not surprisingly, evolution of language can go many ways, not just the way which supports your argument. Cheers!

[lillesvin]

First, it's only a strawman if you think accepted cognitive metaphor theory is wrong and the concrete form of "steal"/"theft" did not come before the more abstract mappings...

And are you really saying that "steal" has evolved away from also including "stealing ideas" and similar (including "piracy")? Because that's demonstrably false simply by pointing to the original argument you made complaining that people are using "steal" in the "wrong" way. I'm curious, though, do you have some data to back up that claim? (I'm assuming no—or something anecdotal at best—but on the off chance you have something, please, share!)

You are aware that general use defines language and what's considered correct, right? How you feel about it as an individual doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things unless you manage to affect general usage of the term "steal" to no longer include "piracy".

You're obviously not arguing in good faith—e.g. by cherry-picking what you respond to (out of context even ... while missing the point) while completely ignoring other arguments. I'll refrain from taking further part in the discussion if that pattern continues because it's frankly a waste of time and effort.