Word Pirates: "They're our words, dammit!
Marketers, politicians and other short-sighted, self-interested, sticky-fingered people have been stealing our words. Not only do they take them for commercial purposes, but they misuse them entirely. They're Word Pirates and we're going to take back what's rightfully ours.
For instance...
For instance, the word 'pirate' itself has been taken over by the Big Content companies. They mean 'anyone who shares files.' Real pirates murdered, raped and stole. They didn't share music, rightly or wrongly.
For instance, 'intellectual property' refers to ideas. Ideas aren't property. Not only one person can 'own' them. It's a bad metaphor leading to worse laws.
For instance, 'hotel guest' pretends that people who pay money to stay in a building are somehow guests.
What can we do about it?
We can refuse to accept these translations into inhuman language.
We can use the words to mean what they did before the pirates looted 'em.
We can list and discuss pirated words here."
Marketers, politicians and other short-sighted, self-interested, sticky-fingered people have been stealing our words. Not only do they take them for commercial purposes, but they misuse them entirely. They're Word Pirates and we're going to take back what's rightfully ours.
For instance...
For instance, the word 'pirate' itself has been taken over by the Big Content companies. They mean 'anyone who shares files.' Real pirates murdered, raped and stole. They didn't share music, rightly or wrongly.
For instance, 'intellectual property' refers to ideas. Ideas aren't property. Not only one person can 'own' them. It's a bad metaphor leading to worse laws.
For instance, 'hotel guest' pretends that people who pay money to stay in a building are somehow guests.
What can we do about it?
We can refuse to accept these translations into inhuman language.
We can use the words to mean what they did before the pirates looted 'em.
We can list and discuss pirated words here."
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