I had an interesting discussion today. Yesterday, I was in a meeting where I mentioned the possibility of grandfathering in certain employees to a new way of doing something. Today, a coworker reached out to me to give me the heads-up that the term has a dubious origin. As much as I am a history and language nut, I had no idea.
The person who brought it up wasn't offended by my use of the term, nor were they trying to shame me for using it- it was just a heads up, which I actually appreciated.
It did, however, bring up a question that's been bouncing around in my head since. At what point, if any, does the use of a phrase or term transcend and/or replace its origin? I think of other things like "rule of thumb", "sold down the river" or "cake walk". In our current lexicon, I doubt many even consider what they meant 200 years ago, because they don't mean that now. But, as we are brought to understand, does it become our responsibility to avoid them, or is there a point in which we should all accept that the original uses have been successfully co opted for much broader and current usage?