I'm aware of all that, Jim, but I'm also very much aware of the evolving language you mention. You are of course quite right about the word 'folk' but don't forget the first use of the words 'folk song' in about 1860 was a book that contained items nothing like the things we call 'folk song' today.

Nobody has suggested anything like 'taking a vote'. If I was teaching a class on etymology I would welcome discussion on the perceived and accepted meanings of any word. When I go to a class of university students today to talk about folk song, yes, the first thing we do is discuss their perceptions of what 'folk song' is and was. And after that I don't impose my rigid definitions on them, I just tell them what various bodies define as folk song and then proceed to sing and discuss some examples.