I've written a lot about how the term "academic freedom" functions within the American academy--far adrift from its definitional roots in the AAUP's early twentieth-century founding documents, it is now one of those terms that can mean whatever you want it to mean. Surprisingly few actually know the origins of the term, or know how the AAUP has defined it in core documents. Still fewer can talk about how the AAUP's definition has shifted over time in ways that don't serve the organization--or the profession it represents--particularly well: where once "academic freedom" described a set of professional standards that accorded faculty a certain limited autonomy in exchange for scrupulous self-policing and continual recognition of the serious duties that are correlative with the special privileges of independence, today the AAUP downplays the duties while playing up the idea that academic freedom is more or less a right to insist that "anything goes."

Writing in the Chronicle of Higher Education, University of Idaho provost Gary Olson makes a similar point about a related term: "The phrase shared governance is so hackneyed that it is becoming what some linguists call an 'empty' or 'floating' signifier, a term so devoid of determinate meaning that it takes on whatever significance a particular speaker gives it at the moment. Once a term arrives at that point, it is essentially useless."

Olson spends most of his article explaining what shared governance actually is--and distinguishing that from what many faculty and administrators think it is or want it to mean. It's a noble endeavor--but one is left with the impression that it's quite likely get caught up in ever more nonsense--kind of like this:

'... there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents -- '

`Certainly,' said Alice.

`And only one for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!'

`I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'

`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master - - that's all.'

Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. `They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs, they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'

`Would you tell me, please,' said Alice `what that means?`

`Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. `I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.'

`That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

`When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, `I always pay it extra.'

`Oh!' said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.