Dictionary publisher Merriam Webster recently was under attack. According to company president John M. Morse, protester demanded that a specific word be deleted because it is derogatory and offensive. Morse pointed out that dictionary publishers don't invent words or decide the meanings that words will have. A dictionary merely lists and defines the words of our language. Society does the inventing and reinventing of words.

Morse concluded by suggesting that rather than protesting the dictionary's treatment of words, "We can choose our own words responsibly and protest the use of the word by those around us and by influential people in the media, the entertainment industry, and elsewhere." That's good advice!