Proxy

I don't remember learning the word "proxy" until learned about "proxy servers." OK, that sits between you and the Internet so that it can filter out undesirable websites, perhaps improve performance by caching, whatever... Only later did I start thinking about what the word means in the context of regular people:

1. An agent or substitute authorized to act for another person.

I think the first place I heard about "proxy" outside of computer science land was the idea of having a proxy vote a shareholder issue on your behalf. Which reminds me just how much my wife really dislikes when computer science takes an existing word and uses it for something in their field that's only slightly related.

I'm involved in a controversy that is clearly (and merely only) a proxy for a totally different situation. The idea being that there's really some other huge issue, but hiding behind something concrete is an interesting one. Rather than let an other idea proxy for you, why not speak you mind?