‘Woke’ and ‘gaslight’ don’t mean what you think they do – here’s why that’s a problem

Words and phrases change their meaning often as language evolves.

In the past, something was “awful” if it was amazing (think “awesome” or “awe-inspiring”). A “naughty” person was poor rather than poorly behaved.

Only museum exhibitions could be curated, certainly not wardrobes, flats or social media pages. “Bimbo” meant “reckless man”, but is now a sexist word for a young woman, complicated by recent attempts to “reclaim” the term.

Some of these changes are benign, some more troubling.