@InUnfunky @mel_the_author: That's invariably how it goes.
It's one of those ridiculously foreseeable consequences to any use of rhetoric. It gets used, used more, and used more, and then the receivers of it fall for it, believe it, and then their own (usually) stupidity combined with their enthusiasm and weak identities amp it up to beyond the original speakers'/writers' intent (which was usually only to score a few points). It's called Losing Control of the Plot.