@FirewallDragons @pluralistic @eff Regarding the linguistic drift of, "enshittification," I don't think that, "running out of gas," is a valid analogue. The difference is that with, "running out of gas," the second meaning is metaphorical, and therefore inerently distinct from the original meaning.

Think of it this way: imagine someone who had never heard the phrase, "running out of gas," and had never heard the term, "gas," used to refer to the fuel in an internal-combustion-engine-powered vehicle, but was otherwise entirely fluent in English. If this person were to hear the phrase used for its second meaning, they would be confused. They might think something like, "What? Gas? Does that mean their lungs are empty? Why can't they just inhale?" This person would ask for clarification, and (assuming their interlocutor decided to be helpful instead of rude) they would get the whole explanation: "gas" refers to the fuel of a vehicle, so a person "running out of gas" means them getting tired, as a metaphor.

Meanwhile, if someone had never heard the term, "enshittification," and was unfamiliar with the phenomenon of platform decay, and then heard the term used to mean something else, they would not be confused and ask for clarification. They would just assume that vaguely "getting worse" was the word's only meaning. And over time, that could lead to the original meaning effectively disappearing from the English language.