Hit & Get: I have a "random" question.

As I was browsing through my wife's CD collection the other day, I found one that had "Random Mix" written on it. Now maybe it's because I have an English degree and I'm being too literal, or perhaps it's my psychosis flaring up again (probably the latter), but somehow Americans have managed to change the meaning of a word simply by misusing it constantly. That is pretty impressive, if you ask me.

We have all said or heard someone say it, "I went home with some random guy/girl last night that I met at a bar." So are we supposed to believe that this person covered their eyes and arbitrarily picked someone from a crowded bar to go home with? Sort of like a "Pin the Tail on the Hook-up," perhaps? Now that would be a great drinking game! When someone posts pictures on Facebook under the title, "Random Pics," are these pictures that were snapped indiscriminately of odd people and places? From my experience, no. In fact, these pictures have posed people smiling for the camera like they knew their picture was about to be taken.

So when and how did America begin using the word random incorrectly in sentences? Webster's dictionary defines the word random as: occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern. Synonyms include: chance, haphazard, and indiscriminate. If that's an accurate definition, then why do so many people use random as a synonym for weird, strange, or odd? Just a random question.