Traditional terminology is currently being questioned and criticised, and this criticism tends to take central dichotomies as its point of departure. This article takes as its point of departure two theses, both of which address two dichotomies: a) there are no fixed boundaries between specialised communication and other forms of communication, and, consequently, b) there are no fixed boundaries between terms and the rest of vocabulary and phraseology. By combining a semasiological study of some of the central dichotomies of terminology with a historical approach, the paper argues that central dichotomies of terminology and LSP have been subject to a renegotiation that is not yet terminated. Some traditional dichotomies seem to have been recontextualised without being completely refuted.