I don't understand the word "entitled".

If you're entitled to something, it means that you have a right to get it.
But if someone is being entitled, that's someone who demands things they have no right to.

I could totally understand if it was just a funny language quirk that causes these two phrases to have unrelated meaning. Language isn't logical, after all.

But people do deliberately use the double connotations of the word to subtly influence their audience's perception.

If I'm legally entitled to social security payments, that doesn't mean that I'm being an annoying brat for demanding it. But politicians keep using the word 'entitlements' instead of 'rights' when they want to instill their audience with a sense of frustration and injustice against the some rights' recipients.

#linguistics #English #politics