Loaded words

Each entry takes one contested word apart the same way: the precise definition, the gap with everyday use, who benefits from that gap, real cases where the label was applied or withheld, and the questions that let you decide for yourself.

Words fall into three families — legal-definition (a statute or court test exists), concept-creep (a narrow term inflated to cover everything), and tribal-signal (meaning is mostly “which side are you on”).

Every entry runs the same move: find the gap between what a word precisely means and how it gets used, then ask who benefits from the loose version.