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srn347 comments on You can't signal to rubes - Less Wrong
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It may be possible to rescue the word "signal", but it's going to take an equally evocative word that covers what people think they mean by "signal". "Stealing associations" isn't going to work because it's not one word. Robin covers a lot of mileage with "affiliate" but many times when people say "signal" they don't mean "costly-signal" or "affiliate".
If signals had zero possibility of error (i.e. no one ever falsely signaled), I suppose the word "prove" would be an appropriate replacement for "signal" (actual meaning). If it's non-zero, I guess "strongly support" or some close one-word equivalent could work. Is it better to rescue "signal" and find a substitute for the false meaning of signal, or to find a substitute for the true meaning of signal and let the word "signal" be used falsely?
We got the word signal from its technical meaning in economics and evolutionary biology. We should strongly avoid giving standard technical words non-standard meanings, or using a non-standard word where a standard one exists.