Shifts, but with reason

Deer in Old English used to mean any animal, not a specific animal. Wench in Old English used to mean merely a serving girl and had no adverse connotation. A Jack of any suit in a deck of cards used to be called the Knave of that suit. Dice were nicknamed Bones since they were at one time carved from bone. Some English words have come and gone in their meanings or existence because the users of English have changed their preferences for words over time.

In language the phrase "over time" brings out new perspective about the words being used. 100 years ago, the word computer was not even coined. 100 years before that the word airplane had not been coined. 100 years before that revolver did not exist. We could go on.

Over time people change their preferences in life as well. They adjust by seeing a bigger picture based on accumulated knowledge or by narrowing to a finer adjustment of detail. Sometimes their values change from being preferred to dropping out altogether or from not having a value to developing one. Sometimes insights or objects of affection are not encountered earlier in life but appear for us later in life.

I wish that people could more easily adapt their circumstances in life. People have more roots than most words do, more expectations placed on them by society. But, as people change over time, there should be the flexibility that words have in language. Keep the words that still fit, drop the ones that don't, coin new ones as the need arises, or adjust the connotation when the environment changes.