Couldn’t you have also made the exact same argument for the word “vaccination” some number of generations ago, for almost exactly the same reason? It too derives from root words about a practice intended for protecting specifically against smallpox. (Namely, infecting someone with cowpox).
When words are so overly specific so as to almost completely fall out of usefulness for their original meaning (as in the case of both vaccination and variolation, since smallpox is not in circulation any more), it seems pretty natural to see people to repurpose them for other closely-related or more general meanings—that’s certainly one common way language evolves.
If the original meaning is no longer even remotely relevant (so misunderstanding is vanishingly unlikely) and the new meaning is a natural-to-infer and useful extension for the topic being discussed, then this seems like good communication, which is what words are for.
No it doesn’t seem “pretty natural to see people re-purpose” variolation for something that would be labelled in standard and accepted medical terms as vaccination with a live virus.
Find some people in the medical profession that think it’s a good idea then I may reconsider my stance, otherwise I’ve made my point and don’t intend to post any more comments on the subject.
Couldn’t you have also made the exact same argument for the word “vaccination” some number of generations ago, for almost exactly the same reason? It too derives from root words about a practice intended for protecting specifically against smallpox. (Namely, infecting someone with cowpox).
https://www.etymonline.com/word/vaccination
When words are so overly specific so as to almost completely fall out of usefulness for their original meaning (as in the case of both vaccination and variolation, since smallpox is not in circulation any more), it seems pretty natural to see people to repurpose them for other closely-related or more general meanings—that’s certainly one common way language evolves.
If the original meaning is no longer even remotely relevant (so misunderstanding is vanishingly unlikely) and the new meaning is a natural-to-infer and useful extension for the topic being discussed, then this seems like good communication, which is what words are for.
No it doesn’t seem “pretty natural to see people re-purpose” variolation for something that would be labelled in standard and accepted medical terms as vaccination with a live virus.
Find some people in the medical profession that think it’s a good idea then I may reconsider my stance, otherwise I’ve made my point and don’t intend to post any more comments on the subject.