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A comment on How Mark Klein told the EFF about Room 641A [book excerpt]. Parent comment

Re:How Mark Klein told the EFF about Room 641A [book excerpt] by nxobject on Thursday April 30, 2026 @06:39PM (#47969179)
My little piece... it seems like we're litigating your past below, which doesn't seem to be helpful. What's done is done; what is each of us going to do, now?
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Re:How Mark Klein told the EFF about Room 641A [book excerpt] by rkagerer on Friday May 01, 2026 @01:57AM (#47971665)
Unrelated but genuine question: When did it become vogue to use the word "litigate" in a casual context like you just did, outside of any legal proceedings or the like? Why prefer it over, for example, "debate"?

(I first observed it watching a broadcast of JD Vance, but have encountered others effect the same usage since then).

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Re:How Mark Klein told the EFF about Room 641A [book excerpt] by nxobject on Friday May 01, 2026 @03:44AM (#47972217)
Huh, good question. It's actually a very, very old use – the OED gives examples going all the way back to 1740, apparently (see entry 2b. below.)

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/litigate_v?tab=meaning_and_us...

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