@AJHenderson Again, that is a legitimate use of the word, but probably not squarely in the center of the word's meaning. And honestly, when most people talk about investing in a child's education they're referencing the potential increase in income that child can expect as a result of said education.

I'm not saying there is no value in an education apart from the financial aspect but most people justify sending their child to college so they can get a better job, not so they can be a more well rounded person. And since colleges no longer seem to even care about teaching how to think critically...

@MichaelClark well good ones do, but either way, the parent isn't getting a financial return. The benefit they get is that their child is better off

it's a legacy thing, not a monetary gain. Even by the definition you linked "the act of putting money or effort into something to make a profit or achieve a result"

and profit is "earn money, or benefit:"

it's a value gain, not necessarily monitary

@AJHenderson That's still a long way from "What I spend every time I want something that's expensive that won't gain me anything except personal pleasure."

@MichaelClark Yes, that I agree with. You certainly have to be able to make the argument that it was an efficient usage of resources or it isn't an investment. I'd also agree that making evaluations of personal benefit is a fringe case, but one that can be made as long as you can reasonably justify the value over time relative to the cost

Can't believe this chat room is still debating the word invest

See how that minor investment in the time it took to write a rant paid off in regular discussion over a period of 5 days that might have otherwise gone silent (other than a couple of short sidebars regarding remote control and splitting up the "lens nomenclature" answers by manufacturer)? :-)