Discourse locks in partly by shrinking what can be acceptably said.

Evidence

Self-reinforcing processes exist due to the fact that the discourse gives meaning to events, enables thoughts and legitimizes actions. By doing so, discourse automatically excludes other potentials to speak, think and act (Landwehr, 2006, p. 109). This leads to a shortage of acceptable statements about reality. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 996