In my sense of the term (described earlier), it makes sense. Are you talking about the originals or not? “Special Edition” means “not”, so it works for everything from 1997 onward,
You’d have to start with 1981 then. Which wasn’t called a Special Edition either.
The 1997 version is the only one that’s actually a Special Edition. Comparing the Special Editions to MST3K is just hyperbolic. I get not liking all the changes, but the idea that most of the movie got changed really doesn’t make any sense. Most of the movie is still there, and still intact. over 90% of each film is essentially the same as it was when they finished post-production in 77, 80, and 83. Fixing VFX, re-adding deleted scenes, and making VFX content changes on top of the film restoration isn’t the same as writing a comedy script and performing it non-stop over the soundtrack. One is a satirical transformation of the work into a completely different thing. The other is the 1997 release, named as “Special Edition”
All the other editions of the film are just that - variations. It makes much more sense to simply refer to the year their visual changes were adopted than to call half of the editions by a name they never had.
edit: FWIW I know this is some tilting at windmills stuff. It’s a lost battle already. Just like “Han Shot First” and other bits of fandom lore that got cemented in place as the internet made sharing memes the primary mode of fan communication - “Special Edition” is no longer the title of a single re-release made in 1997, but a blanket condemnation on post-release changes in general, applied to ANY film ,and not just Star Wars. I get it.