Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic The practice of insisting that a word means whatever one wishes it to.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the fictional character Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Caroll's Through the Looking-Glass, who, when asked what he meant by "glory", replies "I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'". Alice protests that this isn't the meaning of "glory" and Humpty Dumpty replies "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less."
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