I won this one in a writing contest in 5th grade - there was no question it was mine. There's a bookplate in the front with my name on it.

Only reason I mention ours is it was very old and had color(!) plates of different animals and such in the front and back flyleaf's... was tres cool! It is not in the best (very used, lovingly used but VERY used) condition... that was true when we were young! However, at least my favorite sister is the one who got it.

@Gnarloc Ah that improves things! *The Fav. Sister has it.

And yes colored plates in a dictionary - that was an old book! (Love old books).

I didn't keep our ancient Encyclopedias - but I kept the two Atlases (which pre-date me) because names have changed all over the place. And it's kind of cool having it in print!

You might convert me back with that one.

However the dictionary says they are essentially the same. (Syn.).

@RavenCT Fortunately, the English Language is a living, and thus changing, language. Thus, the '74 definition of "agnostic" is not set in stone, though, in hopes of limited confusion, the new definition should be simply a refined version of the old one (at times definitions of words change so radically that they simply do NOT resemble each other, example: when I was young, a bitch was a dog in heat, when I was a teenager it took on the meaning of an insult to a woman/girl, NOW it seems as if it is a compliment... <sigh>. Thus, we should keep the old dictionary around for reference (yes) but we should also look at a new dictionary and... maybe make up our own minds as to which we prefer, it being a living language and all.

In short: let it mean that which gives you the most peace.

@Gnarloc The Urban Dictionary is my Bible.

@Gnarloc I know. I'm amazed by the words added in each year. And yes by changes in meaning.

English is a strange enough language without the morphs it goes through. I hope I keep up as I get older.

I don't think I'll own another hardcover dictionary - but it was fun to go back and look. I won that book in a writing contest!

Plus to remember that my Mom was awesome!

@RavenCT Wait... we get older?!

@Gnarloc Then we die.

Also Dunkin' Doughnuts - never Starbucks unless it's an emergency!

@RavenCT We all seem to have an eye twitch.

@RavenCT At Domino's you can count your blessings.

@Gnarloc No! Forget I said that. Happy to live under that particular belief system of non-aging....

@Whathappensnow Yes we do! rofl

Hahahajaha. I love your definitions of theist and atheist!

@Gnarloc people get worked up about the "proper" use of English but I've always thought its plastic and constantly evolving nature is its chief beauty. I think dialects and slang are the most generative and creative forces in language.

@Blindbird

When I was young, pretty much up to and through High School, I was locked into the idea that English has hard and fast rules and you must say things this way or you are WRONG!

I did a short stint as a professional proof reader and it beat some of those rules in a little deeper and harder.

BUT... as I grew up I began to realize how silly that way of thinking really was. How much more wonderful the language is when it is flexible and fluid.

I DO like there to be rules so that we can be understood, Let's call that "formal language" (English is that is the language discussed).

When we are just being relaxed, that can be informal language.

The true masters of the language know how to evoke very interesting thoughts, ideas, images and emotions by putting together interesting word combinations and orders and we call those people: Poets. Well, I call them poets.

I think it was that last realization, that we can communicate multiple senses when we allow our language to be flexible and fluid. I can't think of a good example but there have been a few songs that I listened to when I was young and enjoyed the music, not much more.

Sometime later, I sang along, learned the lyrics and they were fun but I didn't pay close attention to the meaning.

Then one day it dawns on you what you are saying when you sing those lyrics and you are again blown away by this song which just keeps delving deeper and giving you more to enjoy the more you listen to it.

MUCH later, a decade or more, you happen to hear the song and suddenly you realize one of the words has a double meaning and because of the phrasing... OMG is the singer REALLY saying that!?! YES, THAT was the true meaning all along and you are FLOORED by this song yet again!

That musical epiphany was the final kick to clear the blockage of my hidebound ways in English (that and dabbling in several languages) so that now, I am willing to relax and use language in an informal, casual way.

BUT, I do like formal language in the right areas. If you are trying to say something important, especially if it is important to you, that is the time to use formal language and do it well (which is why I stand by my thoughts that we MUST learn language better than it seems we are).

I teach (well, am licensed to teach) Math and part of this road to discovery and epiphany lead me to realize that Math is another language in which you are talking about quantities and qualities, form, figure and shape and if you KNOW the language, and are precise in how you use it, the concepts are, mostly, easy. All of them are certainly easier than when you are informal and casual with the language (especially when learning the concepts).

Unfortunately, when teaching Math the children are so used to informal/casual language that they can't/won't get into a formal mode which makes my job, and their efforts to learn, harder. :/

I really want to teach math at the High School or College level and get the chance to teach a Topics sort of class and play with the math as taken from a linguistics point of view.

(Hmm, he noted, this post wasn't supposed to be this long... but, I was having so much fun typing out the concepts! )

@Gnarloc I'm happy you did. It was very insightful.

@silvereyes Yes I am perfect, thank you for noticing.

@Gnarloc Wow, you seem like a very boring person.

I understand you more now, @Whathappensnow. Truth is, that to the right audience, I can certainly be boring. To another audience, we have tons of fun talking about a wide variety of topics. Much of 'boring' and 'exciting' is perspective. When you close your eyes, perspective is lost, and much is boring.