Second, the definition of Tankie means supporting China and Russia (TODAY RUSSIA) only because of their authoritarian policies, regardless if it is anywhere adjacent to actual communism or not.

For example, many Tankies will support any action Russia takes (which we've seen with Ukraine) if it opposes "the west". And no one can argue that modern Russia is even kind of communistic.

[–] kitnaht@lemmy.world -2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

One, there isn't some governing body for the term "Tankie".

It's called a dictionary. And even though there are many of them, they agree on the definition. Words mean things. Kinda cool how that works.

[–] spongeborgcubepants@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

That is not how language works

[–] __nobodynowhere@startrek.website 2 points 4 days ago

A dictionary describes words and their already existing meaning not governs or creates them.