i have to say this is not a political post. i am not a us citizen and do not live there and do not really care who wins the election there.

my question is about whether there is a name for a process of evolution in meaning and usage. i have seen the phrase "MSM" used a lot in various comments at blogs all over the net and the first time i saw this initialism it took me a few minutes to parse it as "mainstream media". the phrase now does not mean "mainstream" in the OED sense of "the prevailing trend of opinion, fashion, society" or "belonging to or characteristic of an established tradition, field of activity, etc.; conventional" but is now pejorative meaning "media whose views are not the same as mine". ive seen it used by large organisations like FoxNews and the Washington Times in this sense, both excluding themselves from the definition. ive also seen it used liberally by individuals posting comments to blogs. supporters of both parties have used "MSM" to describe media that they think is biased against their candidate.

i guess the path "MSM" is taking is similar to that of "reactionary" but its interesting that unlike words like 'conservative' which are only used pejoratively by one side of a political argument, "MSM" is now firmly pejorative for both sides. Does this sort of meaning or usage shift have a name, and is there any sense of how long a particular usage has to be around before it becomes a recognized norm say in a dictionary?

Last edited by latishya; 10/18/08 02:27 AM.