Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Debian is considered stable because apart from security updates package versions are set in stone til the next release, so there won't be any surprises. which is not what the rest of the world means by "stable" when talking about software, so there is in practice a lot of surprise for users coming to Debian when they hear "stable" thinking that it means "no bugs" when it actually means "no changes"
stable, by dictionary definition, means "not changing or fluctuating", no bugs would be "bug free", there is no "bug free" distro.
To be fair, "stable" also means "can stand up without falling over", which in a computer context gives it the secondary meaning (besides "unchanging") of "doesn't crash", which is very easily interpreted by the layman as "not beset by bugs that make it crash".