After free speech is “squashed” I suppose all our words will be little thin ones. Dear Lord, can writers not learn to use their language and the proper words that belong to it.
English is a wonderful language for many reasons. It is highly adaptable, ready to absorb words from other languages, and always changing. It might surprise you to learn that one of the definitions of “squashed” in the dictionary is:
“suppress, stifle, or subdue (a feeling, conjecture, or action).”