Когда я читаю "адекватный человек," хочется спросить "адекватный чему?"

“…linguists generally agree that the evolution of language within our own cultures is carried forth by the linguistically unsophisticated rather than by the highly educated groups. As has been observed by Breal and others, it is the cultured portion of a nation that retards the evolution of a language. Evolutionary changes occur most rapidly when, due to certain circumstances, less literate groups gain influence on language habits. English, for instance, has progressed in recent centuries because the upper classes of society, after the Norman conquest, abandoned English in favor of French, leaving the use of the native tongue mainly to the lower classes. “ (Werner, 1954, p. 191)

Werner, H. (1954). Change of meaning: A study of semantic processes through the experimental method. Journal of General Psychology, 50, 181-208.