Several months ago, I had a nice little disagreement with a relative over the term "High Tea". I said that some upscale hotels in the United States use the term "High Tea" which is the equivalent of English "Afternoon Tea" and not English "High Tea", and my point was that the American usage for this term, while not correct by the English, was developing enough of a currency in America that it could be considered correct in America.

(Apparently, when American's use the term "High Tea", they mean "High" as in "High Society", while the British use the term "High Tea" to mean that it is served on high tables, which is "supper" and not Low Tea or Afternoon tea, which is served on low tables, or coffee tables in the living room.)

My relative, of course, claimed that Americans were just "wrong" and the term had only one correct meaning and that was the British meaning.

My point was that words are flexible and ever changing based on new -- and sometimes incorrect -- usages.

This made me think -- are there other terms which are borrowed from other languages -- incorrectly -- which are now considered correct?

Has this topic been addressed in "Word A Day" before?