The problem of a suitcase word is when different people are using different definitions to talk about the same concept. It is entirely reasonable to presuppose that that is nonsense. It has nothing to do with the complexity of the thing discussed. The problem is when there are disjoint definitions.
>The problem of a suitcase word is when different people are using different definitions to talk about the same concept. It is entirely reasonable to presuppose that that is nonsense.
Not really. People could be legitimately doing that, because the concept is inherently multi-faceted and each approaches it from a specific angle.
It's okay to approach things from different angles, and to use equivalent definitions even if they take wildly different shapes. But as my explanation continued, you cannot use disjoint definitions. If we are to talk about the concept of barnfulness, we won't have a productive discussion if one person defines it as 'red and square' and nothing more, while another person defines it as 'contains horses' and nothing more.
No concept inherently requires that definitions of it contradict. And highly-contradicting definitions is a critical factor in having a suitcase word.
