Well, you do need to do something because deprecated means it's slated for removal. So you either go and make sure it isn't removed (if you can) or prepare for the removal by moving on.

But yes, deprecation is one of the most misused words in software. It's actually quite annoying how people will just accept there's another long complicated word for something they already know (removed) rather than assume it must mean something different.

Maybe the problem is the language itself. Should we deprecate the word "deprecate" and transition to "slated for removal"?

Except "deprecate" doesn't mean "slated for removal". Things can be deprecated but remain forever, for instance, various Java methods.

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/Deprecat...