by Ryan McMaken
Mises.org
It is possible that there is no term more abused in modern political discourse than “liberalism.” Originally meant to describe the ideology of free trade and limited government, the anti-capitalist left adopted the term in the 1930s and changed its meaning to the opposite of what it meant in the 19th century.
Liberalism never quite lost its correct meaning in most of the world, however, and in Spanish-speaking countries, for example, the word “liberalismo” still often means the ideology of free trade and free markets. Only American right-wingers appear to use the term as a pejorative to sling at the anti-capitalist left. Even in America, though, with the left having eschewed the term for the more trendy “progressive,” the use of “liberalism” in political invective appears to be fading.