Oh an other prescriptive! What a quaint notion that living language should follow rules!

actually living languages do follow rules, just not simple ones. Watergate yeilded (and 40 years later its still is yeilding) "gates" of all kinds.

writers and the public 'KNOW' gate attached to a word can mean "illegal government action, or potential political scandel" as well as a door like opening in a fence.

and while homo mean same (as in homonym--words that have the same meaning) ita also has come in popular culture to be a slur, --just try calling some one a homo-(a slur i heard at least 45 years ago)--and you can have proof.

its understandable then that homophobia is around.

Of course you are dead right--(and will go to your grave being right, but won't have changed how language works when left in the hands of the speakers.

If it weren't for TV/Radio/Movies, american english and ozzie english would be well on there way to being different languages than UK english, much as french/spanich/italian are differnt language than latin. that what happens to living languages.

my other obsession