Redefining "Best"

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We lose the ability to communicate when words no longer have their agreed-upon meaning. That's happened more than once in our culture. "Gay" used to mean "festive" or "happy." If you listen to old songs (from the 1950s or before) you'll hear that reference frequently. Then in the 70s gay meant "male homosexual." And for a time in the late 00s and early 2010s it seemed to mean "you're a loser" or "that's a loser" (kids would say, "you're gay," not to insult someone else's masculinity but to give a negative reaction to someone or something). "That's gay"...as if an inanimate object has a sexual preference! Then there was the time that "bad" suddenly meant "good." "That's bad," someone would say, and you didn't know if they meant it was awful or terrific! Today I discovered that the word best doesn't always mean best. I was looking for some hotel rooms for my upcoming road trip, and I saw a hotel chain that I'm a "rewards" member of advertise "best rates guaranteed." As I'm a member, I pulled up the app on my phone and compared the prices to the "best rates" on the internet without the web site knowing I was a "rewards" member. Not even close to similar. I booked a room with a thirty dollar difference between my rate and the so-called "best rate" the web site offered (without my logging in). So much for "best." Since there's a song for everything, here's a terrific one about words (not to mention proof that Lady Gaga is really isn't that "fashion trendy," given that this video is over 30 years old):