Dictionary Descriptivism Debate

The same dictionary that defines literally as both literal and not literal. Dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive, and so they also account for incorrect but common usage.

Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. You have a vote -- use it wisely.

A dictionary describes some common uses. It is not comprehensive or authoritative. It changes with the language, not the other way around. Language defines the dictionary, sometimes with a very long lag. Several people have told you of a definition not present in whatever dictionary you referred to. This is meaningful.

They're wrong.https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/descriptive-vs...

Fun fact, the "correct" term is the one in use. Dictionaries define language after the fact, they do not prescribe its usage in the future.

The dictionary's on my side, but maybe usage is changing.

Language is based on use. Popular use is never incorrect. Dictionaries don't dictate language, they try to follow it.

The dictionary describes the way words are used by people; it doesn't prescribe the way words must be used. If the way people use a word changes (e.g. if people start using the word "sausage" to also refer to these vegan products), the dictionary changes. You don't change the law to match the dictionary

You may be over-indexing on a prescriptive lexicon:https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/descriptive-vs...

What you call corruption, others call evolution. The fact of the matter is that there is no authority defining English. As a result, there is no way of objecctively deterimining if something is plain wrong. The best we can do is going by usage. You can try to influence usage, certainly, but some of those battles are simply not winnable.Note that the prominent English dictionaries have usage panels that make judgements about whether the usage of a certain form of a word is sufficiently wide as