pg was part of the east coast MIT/Lisp hacker culture and his use of the term predates YC by many years. That's why HN is called what it is. I don't see why one would begrudge this. Indeed, YC itself started as a hack, so it would be truer to say that the H led to the Y than vice versa.

It's true that the word "hacker" has morphed and become diluted, but that's what happens when subcultures go mainstream, and words are always changing anyhow. I don't like it either, but it happens.