Posted by Tom on October 08, 1999 at 16:49:37:
In Reply to: Still missing the point posted by rpcman on October 08, 1999 at 10:57:15:
Perhaps you're group uses the term in a unique way that
would warrant inclusion in a dictionary. But as I've already
said repeatedly, dictionary definitions reflect USAGE
which means the meaning that is most likely to be held by most of
the people most of the time. Most people aren't atheists my friend--in either sense.
So until you convert us, I don't expect that the dictionary people
are going to change their entries. Such problems annoy lots of people, expecially
academics like myself who need to use terms with more precision than that
enjoy out on the street. But it is important to understand what kind of
an authority a dictionary is. You seem to want it to be a technical
lexicon.