Well, I'm not convinced, and I still think it's a case of listeners growing up hearing a word and never stopping to consider if it is appropriate.
Also, writers have to be careful when reaching for a ' different' word instead of using an obvious one.
For example, when Richard Thompson says, "Don't renege on our love' , instead of, for example, " Don't give up on our love", we care a case of a writer trying to avoid an obvious word but ending up with an " unnatural" sound phrase.