My own repertoire includes a song where I have to point out in advance that the phrase "gay old bugger" doesn't have today's meaning. But then I usually sing in places such as pubs, where the young and innocent are unlikely to be present.

In my own nipperhood I learned that some songs, hymns in particular, were written a long time ago and included words ("without", "prevent") that had changed their meaning since. This made perfect sense to me, and so did the old hymns once I'd got my head round the words in question. Admittedly my mind had to work a bit harder if the surface meaning seemed comic or inappropriate. But at that age, learning new words, and new meanings to old words, was an everyday occurrence.

We shouldn't necessarily avoid words just because one particular meaning presents difficulties. Teaching other meanings is, I suggest, part and parcel of education.