Quantum Dominance, Hegemony, and Superiority
Pinker also talks about the &quot;Euphemism Treadmill&quot;, where words that were specific medical terms turned into general insults and became unusable because of it (&quot;spastic&quot; in my lifetime has gone from a medical description, to a playground insult, to being effectively unusable, a non-word).<p>We&#x27;ll see the same happen here. As &quot;supremacy&quot; becomes unacceptable, other words will rise to describe the same phenomenon, and then they&#x27;ll become unacceptable, and we&#x27;ll rotate gradually through ever-more-complex words and phrases to describe things.<p>I&#x27;m all in support of reclaiming words. If we use &quot;supremacy&quot; for lots of other things, then its association with racists fades. Giving them sole use of such a useful word seems to be letting the bad people win, somehow.