Why did nobody tell me 'gaslighting' was supposed to be a serious term?

I used to throw 'gaslighting' around for any little lie, like when my buddy said he returned my drill but he didn't. Then last month I dated this person who'd deny our whole conversation from 3 hours ago, every single time, and I caught myself joking 'oh you're gaslighting me' to their face. That's when it hit me, this term got so watered down online that I was using it to describe actual manipulative behavior without any weight to it. My counselor at the clinic in Boise finally spelled it out for me, it's about eroding your sense of reality, not just a white lie. Is it too late to save the word's meaning, or are we stuck with the watered-down version forever?

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morganhill1mo ago

Isn't that just how language works though?

6

patricia_schmidt141mo ago

Boise counselor sounds like he's overthinking it. Words change.

2