[Sorry I’m late. I’m having a very hard time getting enough sleep.]
George Orwell, of course, was the first to write extensively about this: words that acquire alien meanings when power-hungry governments use them. Heck, look what they’ve done to “smart.” And “equity.” Now they only mean flee to someplace safe before the libs can rob you blind .
You could probably put together a whole glossary of ordinary words and expressions that have acquired a sinister quality and have long since parted ways with their definitions in the dictionary.
Please, Father, rescue us out of this age!