Organic Change or Stability in English?

Language, they say, withsome justification, is organic. And, in common with organic structureseverywhere, it must grow, develop and experiment with variations, or die. Manyof the world's small languages have disappeared, often because their speakersand users refused to adapt to the changes imposed by the developing world.English, considered the most widely spoken language on this extraordinary planetof ours, has some champions who would subject it to the sort of purity thatwill ultimately suffocate it. On the other hand, there are those who stretchthe meanings of words until they become meaningless.
To be a useful method ofcommunication, language needs to maintain some stability. A common example ofthe changes imposed on English in the relatively recent past concerns the word 'wicked'.Initially stemming from the Old English 'wicca' or the female version, 'wicce',and then evolving into 'witch', this word was initially all about badness andmalevolence. Though, even as early as the 17th century it could betaken as meaning 'playfully mischievous or roguish'. Last century, it took onthe exact opposite meaning and came to convey the ideas of 'good, brilliant,wonderful' in the mouths of youth.
At the time, I recallbeing disturbed by this reversal of meaning, which appeared to have the effectof turning communication upside down and causing confusion. But the period ofbewilderment proved short and it was soon evident that context would make theintended meaning clear, often depending on who was actually using the word. Itcontinues today to have the meanings of both 'bad' and 'good'. As such, itought to be an obstacle to comprehension but, except in the most clumsy cases,its meaning is generally obvious from its usage.
Had we employed the samesort of language police as the French have for centuries, the new meaning ofthe word would have been prevented and the language made poorer by its lack.English, because of its global appeal, is not only able to absorb such changesbut actually seems to welcome them. We are blessed with a wide vocabulary withmany words borrowed, stolen or high-jacked from other languages. This gives us,as writers, the ability to express our ideas with some niceness (I use the wordin its sense of 'accuracy'). If we wish to express an idea for which there's noreal English word, we can employ one from a foreign language, knowing that inmost cases it will be both understood and accepted. So, to express the ideathat a girl is in a state of romantic attachment to a man she intends to marry,we call her a 'fiancée', borrowing the term from our cousins over the Channel.And, is there an English equivalent for that wonderfully expressive Germanword, 'Schadenfreude'? (For those who don't know, it means enjoying, in amalicious way, the misfortune of another.)
Our common language,evolving from influences of Latin, early French, ancient Greek, the dialects ofthe Norse invaders, Celtic and Germanic origins, has borrowed words from allover the world. The days when Great Britain ruled a vast empire ensured that wecollected many exotic words from lands as diverse as India, Tasmania, Borneo,Argentina, China and Egypt to mention but a few. With the development of theearly United States of America, when peoples from all over Europe mingled withthe native populations they eventually displaced, many more words were absorbedinto the growing language.It's said that English, asused worldwide, now contains over one million different words. That's one hugemine from which to excavate the words you need to express your ideas withclarity and exactitude.
So, this is a plea forflexibility harnessed to sensible and accurate usage of language. Metaphor andsimile encourage writers and readers to expand their understanding of languageand, providing such linguistic expeditions don't remove the reader from arecognisable landscape, they can act as a means of broadening horizons for all.
It really would be wickedof you not to indulge in the full splendour of our common language to make yourwriting as wicked as you can, don't you think?
A question for you toponder: Why do folk say they 'sleptlike a baby' when babies wake up so often?