You Could Extinguish a Star by Robin Sloan

When you name something, you label the thing; frame it. This is an important job, before anyone has actually encountered that thing! But, very quickly, the flow of meaning reverses. The thing’s specific characteristics and its performance — its great success, we hope — fill the vessel of its name, which was pretty empty all along. Then, instead of the name defining the thing, the thing (re)defines the name. (View Highlight)