wordnap

v.

To apply a new meaning or usage to an existing word. (word + kidnap; coined by Richard Lederer.)

Example Citation:

"I feel very badly when I see unique dying on the language vine. When I witness unusual gobbling up unique, I see, much in the manner of George Orwell's Newspeak, a precious window darkening in the house of language. Unique is a unique word. We have no other adjective that easily and concisely conveys the sense of 'one of a kind.' Because we already possess modifiers like unusual and distinctive, there is no reason why unique should be wordnapped into their territory."

— Richard Lederer, Adventures of a Verbivore

Category:

Language (General)