Merriam-Webster’s 1,400 new words are not a victory lap for casual English; they are a stress test for precision.

Take "literally." If the dictionary now sanctions its misuse as "figuratively," we have codified ambiguity rather than resolved it. A word that once anchored meaning now requires context to salvage it. The practical camp will say dictionaries reflect usage, and they are right about the descriptive fact. But my line holds: in a contract, a medical note, or a job offer, "literally" doing the wrong job is not a quirk—it is a liability. Correct the usage once, and you never have to guess. I am not against new words; I am against pretending that sloppiness and evolution are the same thing.