[EWillers]

I would agree that usage frequently dictates the meaning of words.

Here, there is an issue of precision. The board is 9 9 8 8 2. A player at showdown announces I have the nuts.

Now, with the rigid use of the term, every reasonably bright person at the table knows what the declarer has (assuming the declarer is accurate).

With the willy nilly voodoo use of the term, everybody is left guessing. "Oh, you have 9 9? Crap, it's a fouled deck then because I have 9 8."

It gets back to being able to identify the nuts given a board. One should be able to identify the nuts and unbeatable hands given a finished board.

All "nuts" are unbeatable hands; all unbeatable hands are not "nuts".

It is easier to call any unbeatable hand the "nuts". And it just feels good at the table at a showdown to say "I have the nuts". I think that's what drives the current usage.

There is a compelling argument (precision) however to try and curb this usage.