Homophobe, transphobe, whateverphobe. . . . Is that really the word that people mean when they say these words? that the target of the word is afraid of that thing that the word describes? Wouldn’t “anti-homosexual” or “anti-trans” be more accurate? The answer is probably yes. 🙂 Just like somewhere (just a guess) around 99% of the time you hear someone say the word “jealous” they mean “envious” but their brains just aren’t used to hearing that word so they use the misused word just like a sheep. And who can blame them! We are raised to be conformist in this society. Don’t stand out. Say what is expected. Recite the “correct” answer. We pretend to be iconoclasts and rebels but are largely non-thinking conformists who readily adopt whatever thinking is offered to us on an attractive plate.
Words do matter whether you recognize it or not and much of your confusion in life can be attributed to the failure to acknowledge that on your part, the part of others, or our entire society’s tacit decision to ignore meaning whenever convenient, a bad habit passed on generation to generation by ignorant and lazy parents and teachers.
At some point we need to decide that quality is important and actually agree on what quality means, whether it’s quality of education, quality of automobiles, quality of life, quality of character (of a person), quality of politician/elected representative, etc.