Words we've learned since reading Think Atheist

Those who know me must think I see only negative in the world... which is often true :(

So I thought I'd be a positivist for a moment, and thank Think|Atheist for offering an intense debating forum where reality and rationality usually prevail :)

I was a anglo-Newfie plunked down in French-Québec at age 4. I had to become bilingual real fast and negotiate some pretty brutal cultural paradigm shifts, as a hated anglo, growing up through the October '70 crisis when Canada imposed martial law onto Québec, jailed thousands of innocents, causing thousands more to go into hiding and burn all personal mementos/correspondence that might be deemed treasonous, including some of my family members. My region was separatist (with which I fundamentally have always agreed, and the separatist government was responsible for removing education from the hands of the clergy, but only after I was done high school), but schooling included daily religion/catechism, which I despised. In the end, knowledge, reason, and sheer pig-headedness inculcated by my atheist parents, are the traits that eventually got me through those hard times. Some days I wished it was my incredible sense of humour and charisma that were my best traits, but they weren't... LoL!

Being multilingual brings many pleasures to life, but I also missed out on certain speciality areas of vocabulary, and my literary/philosophical vocabulary in English still needs much improvement. Learning is a perpetual life endeavour, and were it not for my heavy school loans, I'd spend all my life in school. But, T|A provides some degree of compensation :)

My favourite new word I've learned here is (hoping it's not more common than I perceive):

Disingenuous. Such an interesting word for debates, subtly distinguishing itself from the act of lying.

What are your favourite new words?

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Permalink Reply by gueguemon on February 7, 2011 at 10:07pm

44622 words

Congratulations! You scored ###!

You scored as knowing approximately 44622 words and word meanings. This officially qualifies you as "college material."

i guess that's good cause i am in college, but i guess that also means i need to read more.

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Permalink Reply by Gregor Basić on February 8, 2011 at 6:34am

That site is a fake! The site just makes you sing in, which I didn't do.

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Permalink Reply by Gregor Basić on February 8, 2011 at 7:50am

I was thinking about something like this: Test Your Vocabulary Size

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Permalink Reply by Bill on February 7, 2011 at 5:29pm

I love that people here have large vocabularies and aren't afraid to use them. There are many elite users here, but few elitists. Thanks to all for sending me to the dictionary on a regular basis!

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Permalink Reply by Bill on February 7, 2011 at 11:15pm

It may be a foot and a half long, but I think antidisestablishmentarianism perfectly describes the philosophy of the Tea Party. Though I'm not happy to see this concept return, I am pleased to be able to use it in a meaningful sentence.

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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on February 7, 2011 at 8:34pm

One term I use a lot more is "peer reviewed evidence". BTW I also heard the word "gullible" is no longer in the Atheists dictionary as it has become obsolete - :)

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on February 7, 2011 at 8:50pm

I wish, Reg. Not all atheists are rational thinkers. A prime example would be the Raelian cult. They do not believe in any deities (and are therefore technically atheist), but they have plenty of irrational beliefs nonetheless.