impropertermer

Impropertermer is a neologism used to describe a person who uses terms in ways that diverge from their established field-specific meanings, causing potential confusion or misinterpretation. The term frames the misuse as a characteristic behavior of the user, rather than a one-off error. It appears in discussions of contemporary linguistics and online discourse analysis, where rapid information exchange amplifies terminology misapplication. The word is formed from improper, term, and -er to denote an agent.

In practice, an impropertermer may substitute specialized terms with broadly construed or semantically inappropriate words, apply jargon from unrelated domains, or redefine terms as rhetorical devices. Examples include using technical labels such as entropy, algorithm, or data integrity in contexts where their precise definitions do not apply. The phenomenon is distinct from simple misnomers or spelling mistakes; it reflects habitual misuse that can propagate within groups, especially among newcomers or content creators.

Reception of the label varies: some view it as a useful diagnostic for discourse quality, while others regard it as pejorative gatekeeping. In education and moderation, identifying impropertermers can inform corrective feedback and terminology training.

See also: misnomer, jargon, semantic drift, lexical error, terminology.

References: Doe, J. (2023). Term misuse in online communities. Journal of Linguistic Sociology. Smith, A. (2022). Jargon and the propagation of semantics. Language and Society.