Choosing to use a word is like kicking a hackysack into the air.

Each use of a word is a new vote that the term is worth keeping around and using.

Terms that no one bothers to use fade away, captured (maybe) in fossilized text.

Words that were fossilized in text in the past might one day be read by someone new who finds it useful and says it again, but it's unlikely.

Words that were never fossilized and are no longer used simply fade out of existence.