• _danny@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      62
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Congratulations on learning that words have no intrinsic meaning, and the dictionary is constantly changing. Prescriptive linguistics is a hopeless battle.

    • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      46
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You gotta drop this one, friend. There are better hills to die on. Hills that don’t get you labeled a pedophile.

    • Dieterlan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      27
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think in this case the meaning is already effectively watered down. At this point it’d probably be easier to just give up and make a new term for pedophilia that is just for pre adolescents, and let pedophilia be the term for all “under age of consent” stuff (as is the current modern usage).

      • kungen@feddit.nu
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        and let pedophilia be the term for all “under age of consent” stuff

        Then come the Germans and say that 14 is legal in their country.

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Age of consent doesn’t matter in this context, it’s the difference in age that does. An 18 years old having sex with a 17 years old isn’t a pedophile. In Canada the age of consent is 16, if you’re 40 and having sex with a consenting 16 years old you’re still trialled as a pedo if the person changes their mind and press charges.

        • Dieterlan@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Luckily, I’m American so I can pretend Germany doesn’t exist, like I do the rest of the world 😘

    • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      God forbid we actually use words of correct colloquial meaning instead of watering down the subject of molesting teens.