Use when a discussion keeps misfiring and people talk past each other over one loaded word. Use when naming a product, feature, or value — check what the name makes people pre-perceive. Use when you catch yourself reacting to a word instead of the thing it names.

It explains why some concepts are nearly impossible to discuss — the shared vocabulary carries the wrong referent for everyone in the room, so they talk past each other without disagreeing about anything real. It argues for defining terms from direct experience first and the word second, and for suspicion of hot-button words that do your thinking for you.