Oh, yes.

[nonethefewer]

darkest_light says:

A word is nothing more or less than the series of historical connotations given to it. That's HOW we derive meaning, and to claim that there is an arbitrary meaning of words above and beyond the way people use them is a blatant misunderstanding of the nature of language.

Comments

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Someone yesterday, in my journal, said that words are nothing more than a series of grunts and noises. I don't buy that for one hot minute. Because when separated from their meaning, words are indistinguishable from actual grunts and noises. So I believe the fundamental defining characteristic of words is meaning.

That said, absolutely words' meaning are dependent on the historical connotations associated with them. That process is HOW meaning is determined. Words do not exist in a vacuum, after all.

So I definitely believe that words can bend and shift and change their meaning but I don't think it will happen just because, for example, a group who is not described by a term decides the term means something else.

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

Someone yesterday, in your journal, got exceedingly pedantic about the physical aspect of "speech", leaving off the entirety of, at the very least, the dictionary definition (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/word).  Lordycakes.

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

At the heart of most semantic argument is who gets to define words. Lexicographers? Everyday users? People most likely to be hurt by potential uses? The person(s) who coined the word? The biggest bullies? The Most Negative Connotation? The Least Loaded Connotation?

Although, from a linguistic perspective, I think the quote is conflating denotation and connotation. Words have both, but it's an important distinction: Connotation is the full load of "stuff" that words carry around outside of their basic denotation; denotation is the set of entities in the universe to which a word applies. For example, "pig" (in the relevant hippie sense) and "police officer" have the same denotation, but vastly different connotations. Connotations are where the arguments usually stem from, but denotations are also an important part of meaning (denotations, indeed, are the refuge of the boor... there was a recent flap on LJ concerning the word "miscegenation" which had the Moderators retreating to claims that the denotation is relatively harmless, which it is).