If established religious terms are redefined solely through a broad lexical association, the interpretation of connected rulings may also shift. Once a technical meaning is lost, provisions and merits belonging to that category can be transferred to unrelated activities.
That is the concern behind tahrif fi al-din, distortion of religious meaning. In discussing jihad, the ordinary senses of effort and difficulty are not used to replace its defined legal usage; the two levels of meaning remain distinct.