Out of self-defense and from a couple of "close encouters," about 15 years ago I read many books on cults (the word cult originally had a neutral meaning, describing a religious group, similar to the word sect, but a few decades ago it became a pejorative meaning a "coercive, high-demand" group, often but not always religious, which survives and gains members through decietful means) - one cult technique is "loading the language" - using ordinary words with meanings other than their ordinary uses. Most members aren't even aware that this happens (very few see themselves as being in a cult), as no one ever comes out and says "The way we use this word is different from ordinary uses." One learns the new meanings by hearing examples of its use, and may only be vaguely aware that the meaning applies only within the group, or that the word is being used in a new way.
But the loading (adding extra meanings which are not in the dictionary) of words is an integral part of such groups, and is an aspect of language I find quite interesting. The word overloading is also used to mean loading in this sense. In the thread "Privileged language, Register, and Humor (split from "A Little Support" in TIO)" someone mentions loaded words (as in epithets), and in this sense loaded may mean "emotionally charged," but as the thread demonstrates, epithets are also loaded in that they mean something different if the speaker is "in" the described group versus "out" of the group.
Here's a short but good description of how the language can be loaded, with a few examples (Caution, discusses controversial political topics):
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?LoadTheLanguage
Have you (before this thread) recognized such use (or abuse) of the language? Please discuss...
But the loading (adding extra meanings which are not in the dictionary) of words is an integral part of such groups, and is an aspect of language I find quite interesting. The word overloading is also used to mean loading in this sense. In the thread "Privileged language, Register, and Humor (split from "A Little Support" in TIO)" someone mentions loaded words (as in epithets), and in this sense loaded may mean "emotionally charged," but as the thread demonstrates, epithets are also loaded in that they mean something different if the speaker is "in" the described group versus "out" of the group.
Here's a short but good description of how the language can be loaded, with a few examples (Caution, discusses controversial political topics):
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?LoadTheLanguage
Have you (before this thread) recognized such use (or abuse) of the language? Please discuss...