Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth.

Every word you use is a handle, shaped by how a thing relates to other things and to you. The handle is useful, which is easy to mistake for the handle being accurate. When you name something, you have not captured it; you have agreed on a way to point at it. Disagreements often turn out to be two people holding different handles on the same object.

The next time a conversation hardens around a word, stop defending the word and describe what you are actually pointing at. Ask the other person to do the same. Much of what looked like conflict will turn out to be vocabulary.