>I politely decline to accept your usage in this case.

here's something you might want to take up with M-W as well:

conflate \kn-flAt\ conflated conflating [L conflatus, pp. of conflare to blow together, fuse, fr. com- + flare to blow more at blow] (1610)
verb transitive
1 a : to bring together : fuse
b : confuse
2 : to combine (as two readings of a text) into a composite whole


(C) 1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated