It's a cool, bright March Monday, and I'm giving our library an early spring cleaning.

I pull a dusty old book off a shelf, intending to run a lemon-oil scented rag over its cover and page edges before putting it back onto a cleaned bookcase.But I succumb to temptation and sink into a comfy chair, book in hand. It's one I read to my daughters when they were small.It takes a few pages of reading to adjust my 2015 brain to 1905 language.Language has always been fluid and dynamic. What meant one thing in 1950 means something entirely different now.The word "gay," for example, once was commonly used to mean lighthearted. Now, it is commonly used to mean one who is attracted to the same sex.The meaning of fiancee/fiance is also changing. Once, it meant one's betrothed, and typically involved an engagement ring and a firm wedding date.Now, it's commonly used to describe a live-in girlfriend or boyfriend.The word "journalist" is changing, too. Once it meant a person trained and usually college educated, who worked for an established newspaper, television or radio station. Now, anyone with a blog describes himself as a journalist.We won't even get into the constantly changing words used to denote race and ethnicity. Words one's grandparents used routinely and without malice would today evoke outrage.Sometimes, groups change their names when certain words begin to be commonly perceived as negative.Recently, Pennsylvania quietly changed the name of the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of Human Services. Google DPW and you get Department of Public Welfare. Click on the link, and you get the home page of the Department of Human Services.When the National Association for Retarded Children was founded in 1953, those with developmental disabilities were perceived as eternal children, and for the most part, treated as such. In instances where they were not institutionalized, they were kept home, sheltered and pitied.By 1973, a time of increased awareness of the dignity of all human beings, the name was changed to National Association for Retarded Citizens. By 1992, amid even better understanding, the name had undergone yet another evolution, this time arriving at simply "The Arc."Perhaps the most profound current language change is being triggered by the use of texting.By its very nature thumbing in letters at lightning speed texting lends itself to abbreviation. "You" has become "u," "are" has shrunk to "r," and phrases are reduced to initials.As speed takes precedence over detail, some schools no longer teach cursive writing, depriving children of one of the best ways to learn patience and focus.Closing the book, I think about change, about its inevitability, as I return a pen and a box of elegant stationery to the desk drawer, and instead open my laptop.