Darkoshi

terms for lack of religious beliefs

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 07:40:25 GMT

I took the Huge Vegan Survey.

One of the questions was about one's religion/belief system, with quite a few choices listed. I pondered whether "None", "Atheism", or "Agnosticism" was most accurate for me. I decided on "None". I am atheistic in that I don't believe in a God in the typical sense; I perhaps 95% don't believe in any type of supernatural entities or forces at all. But there's that 5%, and I'm not totally comfortable claiming "there is no god". So I've always thought agnostic was a better descriptor - I don't know if there's a god or not. But actually that makes it sound like I believe in the possibility of a god much more than I do, and that I might even believe in the possibility of a Judeo-Christian-Islamic-etcetera God, which I don't.

While looking up Agnosticism in Wikipedia, I found some other terms which may better describe my lack of beliefs. (Maybe this isn't my first time discovering these terms; I don't recall. Perhaps not remembering is an indicator of my apathy on the subject, or perhaps just of my bad memory.)

Apagnosticism

Apagnosticism (from Ancient Greek: ἀπάθεια - "apathy" + ἀγνωσία - "ignorance") is a philosophical position that combines elements of Agnosticism and Apatheism. Apagnosticism neither claims knowledge of the existence or non-existence of God (the stance of agnosticism) nor considers the question to have a meaningful influence on one's life or beliefs (the stance of apatheism). Unlike traditional religious, atheist, or theistic perspectives, apagnosticism refrains from active exploration or proof of God's existence and is based on respect for religious beliefs of others without personal adherence.
...
Unlike atheists, apagnostics avoid actively asserting the position that there is no God, and unlike agnostics, apagnostics do not attach significant importance to religious issues, considering them irrelevant to their lives.

I'm not sure I "respect" the religious beliefs of others. I find it quite strange that religious beliefs are so widespread and that people are so entrenched in them. But whatcha-gonna-do-bout-it? That's how people are, and as long as they aren't using their beliefs to hurt anyone, it doesn't generally bother me. (Religions and religious practices can be quite interesting too.) It only makes me feel more isolated and alone in a person-to-person sense.

Ietsism

Ietsism (Dutch, literally 'somethingism') is the belief that there is "something" that exists beyond the material realm. As a vague belief in supernatural or mystical forces, its core lies in rejecting specific religious definitions and emphasizing personal, intuitive experiences of the spiritual dimension.
...
It is a Dutch term for a range of beliefs held by people who, on the one hand, inwardly suspect – or indeed believe – that "there must be something undefined beyond the mundane which may or may not be possible to be known or proven", but on the other hand do not accept or subscribe to an established view of the nature of a deity offered by any particular religion.
...
The name derives from the Dutch equivalent of the question: "Do you believe in (the conventional 'Christian') God?" A typical ietsist answer being "No, but there must be something", "something" being iets in Dutch.

I wouldn't say "there must be something". I'm more of the opinion "there may be something". The idea of there being a god doesn't make sense to me, but neither does the idea of this world existing with nothing *more* to it, even if I've never really felt that there is something more. Nothing makes sense, so there you have it - that's my belief. Nothing-makes-sense-ism.

comments

clink, clank, clonk, clunk, clang

Sat, 30 May 2026 07:46:15 GMT

Clank (Wiktionary)
Noun: A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.
Usage notes:
Clank usually expresses a duller or less resounding sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink.

Edited to add:
And yet, this glass lid just made a "Clingggggg!" sound. In English, the word cling* isn't used for sounds. But German does; it has the verb "klingen" for the ringing of bells.

*I was wrong. Etymology #2 in the Wiktionary entry for the English word cling does have definition "To produce a high-pitched ringing sound, like a small bell".

So... in English at least, having the 'ng' on the end imitates and implies a resounding sound, whereas 'nk" at the end imitates and implies a non-resounding sound.

"Bang" implies to me a little bit of resonance/ongoing sound.
"Boom" does too but maybe less, and lower pitched.

comments

the wonderings of an insufficiently sleepified giddy mind

Thu, 14 May 2026 19:07:54 GMT

I wonder if people who don't have an internal monologue do actually have one, but in the other half of their brain. Maybe their awareness is centered on the side of the brain not involved in speech, versus people who are aware of the monologue.

I wonder if some people who don't have an internal monologue still talk to themselves out loud, or if they don't at all (since for me, talking to myself out loud is simply an extension of the internal monologue).

I wonder if other people who talk to themselves start developing and using their own personal dialects. For example, checking the status of a UPS tracking number, I said to myself, "Let's tracken the number" and "Let's check the trackening number". I add extra syllables and such to words whenever I'm feeling playful. (Now it morphs into "Let's checkening the trackening number").

Oh it is such a nice gently warm day with birdsong and train whistles and sunshine and wind.

Sometimes when I talk to myself, I get an impression of the other part of my brain (or maybe I imagine it), such as when the verbal part of me has to goad the other part of me before my body will take action, or when I'm trying to figure out why I feel glum and reluctant to do something.

comments

what does Loop D do?

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 06:44:58 GMT

Said I, while perusing code.
Well, whoop-de-doo, I am amused by the sound of it, though not so much by the loopiddy-do code.
That is all.

No, there's more!
Check out the photo on the Wiktionary page for peruse. It offers amusement too.

comments

duck duck aaack!

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:15:13 GMT

random realization*:
Aflacs is pronounced just like "aaa" + "flax".

*while repeating "flax, flax, flax" to myself, to remind me that my purpose in going to my laptop was to look up how I removed the flax seeds from the muesli cereal last time. (And here I am posting about that now instead of looking it up.)

comments

phthisicky; words starting with phth

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:47:33 GMT

phthisicky
(Adjective.) Having phthisis, or some symptom of it, as difficulty in breathing.

phthisis
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin phthisis, from Ancient Greek φθίσις (phthísis, “consumption, decline, wasting away”), from φθίω (phthíō, “to waste away”).
(Noun, archaic.) An atrophy of the body or part of the body, especially pulmonary tuberculosis.

phthor
Etymology: From Ancient Greek φθορά (phthorá, “destruction”).
(Noun, obsolete, chemistry.) fluorine

phthongal
Etymology: From Ancient Greek φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound, voice”).
(Adjective, phonetics.) Formed into, or characterized by, voice; vocalized.

Wordmom: Words that start with PHTH

bestwordlist: List of words beginning with PHTH (with definitions)

comments

a Hat trick of Patrick of green ginger

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 01:29:42 GMT

Note to self:
Next time, take the fairy lights inside for the season, when I start noticing pollen in the air, if not before. I don't want pollen getting all over them.

Errant thoughts:
I wonder how many parents with babies born on March 17 name them Patrick.

Seeing the name written there now, it looks rather neat, with "trick" in it. It could rhyme with hat trick.

Yesterday I noticed that Baby Yoda rhymes with Baking Soda.

Hey, it's Green Day.

As long as I keep that leftover baking soda in the corner of the sink, there will be nothing else needing to be cleaned with it.
As long as I keep that cap-ful of leftover mineral oil on the counter, there will be nothing else that needs to be greased.

Hey, Ginger Ale is appropriate for the day. It came in a green can.

Video title: Celebrating Ireland on St Patrick's Day
Posted by: Gardiner Brothers
Date posted: Mar 17, 2021

comments

thixotropic

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 01:09:26 GMT

thixotropic
adjective: (of fluids and gels) having a viscosity that decreases when a stress is applied, as when stirred.

thixotropy
noun: property of becoming fluid when agitated and gelling when left to stand.

comments

Yahoo storage limit change; Nonnemacher etymology

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 01:16:04 GMT

Yahoo sent an email to users on June 25, stating "Starting soon, free Yahoo Mail accounts will include an industry-leading 20GB of storage".

It sounds like they are increasing the storage limit, yahoo! But upon reading the email again, I wondered about this part: "If your mailbox exceeds the new storage limit after it goes into effect..."

The storage limit is actually being greatly reduced:
Yahoo Mail Storage Shrinks from 1 TB to 20 GB: What You Need to Know - article by Zach Nonnemacher, Content Manager at ZeroBounce, August 5, 2025.

It doesn't affect me as I don't keep many old emails on the server. But other people probably interpreted it the same way I did at first. I understand Yahoo wanting to put a positive spin on it, but it is counter-productive if Yahoo wants users to check their usage and do something about it.
This page mentions a deadline, which the emails I received did not: Yahoo Mail Users Must Clear Space or Upgrade by August 27 to Avoid Losing Access

So users who are over the new storage limit likely got another email with clearer details.

.

I was curious about the etymology of that surname, "Nonnemacher".

According to one page which I won't even link to as it seems to be AI-generated make-believe,
The surname Nonnemacher is of German origin and is derived from the Middle High German word "nonne" meaning "nun" and "macher" meaning "maker" or "craftsman." Therefore, the surname Nonnemacher can be interpreted as "nun maker" or "maker of nuns." It is likely that the name originally referred to someone who made or repaired religious garments or objects used by nuns, or it could have been a nickname for someone associated with a convent or religious community.

The Ancestry.com explanation is rather different:

German: occupational name for a gelder of hogs from Middle High German nunne nonne ‘nun’ and by transfer ‘castrated hog’.
+ an agent derivative of machen ‘to make’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022

What methods and tools do you use to castrate a pig?
Castrating Pigs
No use of anesthesia is mentioned on the above two pages; the below mention it, but it doesn't sound widely used in the U.S.
Castration of Pigs
Piglet castration

.

"Eunuch maker" seems a more logical term for a gelder than "Nun maker". So I wondered if the etymologies of "nun" and "eunuch" were related. But according to those links, they aren't.

comments

Democrazy

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:37:42 GMT

Another typo which I sort of like.
Democracy gone crazy.

comments

Techniculty

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 18:52:17 GMT

That is a typo I caught myself writing, but actually it seems like a pretty nice abbreviation.

Techniculty: Technical difficulty

comments

impressed by the LLM again - drumapella

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 09:56:53 GMT

I came across this song on Youtube: The Cover Girls - Show Me Hearthrob Mix + Drumapella

The video shows an image of the vinyl record listing two separate songs on it, "Show Me (Heartthrob Mix)" and "Drumapella". I was curious what the 2nd song sounded like and wasn't clear if the video included it or not.

So I searched on that song title, "Drumapella", and was confused that the results listed many other songs by other artists with that word in their title. Searching on "what is drumapella" didn't give an answer. Wiktionary doesn't have the word listed either.

So I asked Copilot. This was the response:
"Drumapella" typically refers to a musical track or piece that combines the elements of a drumline (or drum track) with a cappella singing, which means singing without instrumental accompaniment. It's essentially a fusion of rhythmic drumming and vocal harmonies.
It’s an innovative way to blend percussive beats with vocal performances, creating a unique and dynamic sound.

Oh! So, "drum" + "a capella" = "drumapella". It makes sense.

Then I asked Copilot "What are some webpages that explain that?" The reply:
I couldn't find specific webpages that explain "drumapella" in detail, but there are some YouTube videos that showcase drumapella performances. These videos might give you a better understanding of how drumapella works...

It then gave links to 3 videos of songs with "drumapella" in the titles, none of whose descriptions explain what the word means. All 3 songs are from the same YouTube account, DjRubyEve. That account has been posting several remixes of famous songs per day, so I suspect the account uses AI to generate the remixes.

Other Youtube accounts have also posted "drumapella" songs, however. Some of these aren't drums + acapella singing, but rather only drums - a different usage/meaning of the word, which also makes sense.

A 1998 album with remixes of Madonna's song "Frozen" also has two "Drumapella" versions, so it is not a new word.

I am impressed that an LLM was able to figure out (presumably on its own, since I didn't find the word defined anywhere) that drumapella might be a combination of drums and acapella, especially as that didn't even occur to me until the LLM mentioned it.

.

I have been turning to the LLMs for answers more and more often when my web searches prove unilluminating.

.

When I originally searched on "what is drumapella", this Reddit page was one of the results: Is there a musical term for "a capella but percussion is allowed"?
I glossed over that page, because when I searched it, "drumapella" was not found. But now that I expanded all the collapsed comments in the thread, I found this one reply:
Dub?
”Drumcapella”?

So maybe the LLM partially got the answer from there even though "Drumcapella" has an extra "C" in it compared to "Drumapella".

comments

til the turtle escapes and the cows come home

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 01:15:49 GMT

Wiktionary: till

Etymology: From Middle English til, from Northern Old English til, from or akin to Old Norse til (“to, till”); both from Proto-Germanic *til (“to, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *tilą (“planned point in time”). Not a shortening of until; rather, until comes from till with the prefix un- (“against; toward; up to”) also found in unto.

Merriam Webster: Until, till, 'til, or 'till?

...till is not a shortening of until. It actually predates the longer word.

Till has been in use in English since the 9th century; the earliest sense of the word was the same as the preposition to. It has been used as a conjunction meaning "until" since the 12th century. Until has been in use as both a preposition and a conjunction for almost as long.

I prefer to write "til" with a single L and no apostrophe because it is easier, and because "till" looks like something a farmer does, or something dealing with money. There's no other word "til" so why shouldn't it be acceptable that way?

comments

saturnine rhymes

Thu, 30 May 2024 09:21:41 GMT

I watched a course on Generative AI Prompting today where one of the hands-on tasks was to get ChatGPT to generate rhyming questions and answers from a paragraph taken from Wikipedia.

I took this paragraph on Saturn:

Saturn's interior is thought to be composed of a rocky core, surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally, a gaseous outer layer. Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but which has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's. The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 kilometres per hour (1,100 miles per hour).

I couldn't think of any rhymes from that myself, to provide as "few-shot" examples. So I simply asked ChatGPT to generate rhyming Q&As from the text.

It did pretty good; I liked these rhymes the best:

Q: Why does Saturn have a yellowish glow?
A: Ammonia crystals in clouds, you know,
Give it a pale hue, a soft show,
In the upper atmosphere, where they grow.

Q: What's the look of Saturn's outer layer?
A: Bland and lacking contrast there,
Yet long-lived features can appear,
In the atmosphere's drifting air.

comments

a daily Waffle

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 08:20:22 GMT

The zany example sentences are what I enjoy most about the daily Waffle word game. Getting to read them after solving the puzzle is always a treat.

From today:
"R2D2 was the naughtiest robot on set; they had to bleep out all of his lines."

From before:
"I tried a cow joke, but it just went in one ear and out the udder."

"I had a dream that I had invented a new colour; but it was just a pigment of my imagination."

Many puns. Some head scratchers.

Oh! And did you know that the word "robot" comes from Czech? It also comes from the same root as does the German word "Arbeit" (work).

comments

new word for me: kayfabe

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 10:16:48 GMT

Wiktionary: kayfabe
(professional wrestling) The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous.
(figurative) Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts.

Wikipedia: kayfabe

I came across the term on this page:
James Holzhauer Delivered the Greatest ‘Jeopardy!’ Burn of All Time, which reposted one of James' tweets:
Thanks to kenjennings and bradrutter for a hell of a match. Ken and Brad are great jeopardy players but even better people, and have been incredibly good sports about my kayfabe feuding and trash talk.

That confirms suspicions I've had after hearing those type of contestant interactions a few times on Jeopardy, that (while amusing) they were likely to have been scripted.

comments

not seeing/hearing the obvious

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 06:14:20 GMT

While reading someone's profile, I realized for possibly the first time that the German word for a sweater, "Pullover", is based on the English words "pull over". I may not have ever thought about the word in that way before. It was just a German word to me, sort of like "palaver" is a just an English word if you don't know its etymology.

I'm also not sure I've heard it used as a word like that in English before (which helps explain why I didn't make the connection), even though wiktionary lists it as English.

.

Updated to add:
I just remembered this too: Germans often use a short form of the word, Pulli.

comments

tippy tappy

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 20:46:02 GMT

I am amused at myself for the term I just used when speaking to my dog about me using my laptop:
"doing my little tippy-tappy".

Tippy-tappy also describes the sound of her paws when she walks across wood floors. It's a cute sound except when you keep hearing it when you're trying to fall asleep. But from what I've read, it indicates her nails are too long. It's difficult for me to cut her nails as she squirms so much and pulls her paws away when I try. Also, the last time I did, I cut one nail too far and it started bleeding. That made me feel bad. Before I try again, I plan to buy some styptic powder to stop the bleeding in case it happens again.

To get her quicks to recede to make them less likely to get hurt and bleed, I will need to cut her nails fairly often, little by little (some tips I found are listed below). At her annual vet checkup last week, they trimmed her nails for us, so that's a good start.

Dog Grooming: How To Trim Nails On Difficult Dogs
(Wrap dog in towel like a burrito, but with paws sticking out. So actually, more like an enchilada.)

How To SUCCESSFULLY Recede The Quicks (Watch If You Have Struggled!)
(She says to cut around the quick from the front, top, and sides. That way it will recede.
Make sure the clippers are sharp, not dull, so they can slice thru the nails rather than crush them.)

How often should you do a dog's nails to recede the quicks? | ADVICE FROM A DOG GROOMER
@2:48 photo of nails before & after trim - shows them ground from the top edge not just the bottom.
She grinds them every 2 weeks for normal trimming.
@4:45 even 3 sessions 5 weeks apart made the quicks recede.

..

Note to self: To include an "at symbol" (@) in my posts before another character, and to avoid it being interpreted as a mention and replaced with a user head icon and invalid link, I should use the HTML code: &commat;
"commat" stands for commercial at.

comments

types of cars

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 06:29:17 GMT

Today I learned that in Britain, a sedan is called a saloon; a station wagon is called an estate; a coupe is pronounced "coo-pay".
Also, a "cabriolet" is a convertible.

Types of cars (visual chart/guide)
Another visual
Video about different car types (British)

comments

passion, enthusiasm

Sat, 25 Mar 2023 09:59:46 GMT

German "Leiden" means "suffering".
German "Leidenshaft" means "passion".

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=passion
passion (n.)
Origin and meaning of passion
c. 1200, "the sufferings of Christ on the Cross; the death of Christ," from Old French passion "Christ's passion, physical suffering" (10c.), from Late Latin passionem (nominative passio) "suffering, enduring," from past-participle stem of Latin pati "to endure, undergo, experience," a word of uncertain origin. The notion is "that which must be endured."
The sense was extended to the sufferings of martyrs, and suffering and pain generally, by early 13c.
...
The specific meaning "intense or vehement emotion or desire" is attested from late 14c., from Late Latin use of passio to render Greek pathos "suffering," also "feeling, emotion."

German "Begeisterung" means "enthusiasm". (Not "fascination" as I always thought.)
But wait, Google Translate does show that one meaning of "begeistern" is "to fascinate". My paper German/English books don't even list that meaning. So I wonder why the noun "Begeisterung" wouldn't also mean fascination.

comments

words - satiety

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 07:01:12 GMT

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/satiety

Based on how satiate is pronounced, I always thought satiety was pronounced "say-she-eye-itty". If I'd known that was wrong, I might have guessed "say-shy-itty".

But no, I just heard it on TV (NOVA - S47 E6 "The Truth About Fat"), and the correct pronunciation is "suh-tye-itty".

comments

heirloom-type words

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 22:49:44 GMT

Is there a word that indicates that something has been in the family, or in your own possession, for a long time? Sort of like "heirloom", but not necessary involving multiple generations nor even multiple people? For example, to distinguish a Christmas ornament you've had for ten or twenty years versus a brand new one, or one that you've only had a few years?

Perhaps a word for a quality an object obtains in increasing quantity with age and familiarity?
(and perhaps with or without fondness... there could be ornaments you've had a long time, which you've never been particularly fond of, or not as fond of as others.)

Sometimes there are objects I've had a long time, but don't remember having gotten, so they are low on familiarity - like when you find something in the back of a drawer you must have bought some time ago and completely forgotten about.

comments

indubitably buoyant words

Sun, 13 Nov 2022 07:44:34 GMT

Tongue twister: Indubitably undebatable; undebatably indubitable.

(Despite "Indubitably, my dear Watson"*, I have a hard time remembering the doob syllable should be accented.)

Heard on TV: "Feeling buoyed".
(I believe it was said in regards to a town receiving support after the recent hurricane.)
The speaker pronounced it "feeling boo-ied", which is an accepted pronunciation for the word, but that sounds similar to "booed" to me. As "booed" and "buoyed" have rather opposite meanings, it seems a bad word choice to me. I would pronounce it more like "boid" or "bwoid", which wouldn't have the same problem.

Word! Word up! (interjections)
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25086/what-are-the-meaning-and-possible-origin-of-word-and-word-up

*It seems that phrase doesn't even occur anywhere in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. There are many instances of "my dear Watson", but none of "indubitable" or "indubitably". Was the phrase used in one of the TV series then, or where did it originate?

comments

puddle jumper

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 08:14:18 GMT

Looking at a map, I saw a "Puddle Jumper Lane" and thought that was a cute name, thinking of someone who jumps over or into puddles.

Then I did a search on "puddle jumper" and found it is a term used for small aircraft (which may also be called "puddle hoppers").

Interestingly (since cars drive through puddles rather than doing any jumping), puddle jumper was used to refer to cars before it was used for airplanes:
What is the origin of the term “puddle jumper” for a smaller commercial airplane? (quora)
What is the origin of the term “puddle jumper” for a smaller commercial airplane? (reddit)

comments

facial anatomy: philtrum

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 06:22:36 GMT

I wondered if there was a word for "the vertical indentation of skin under the center of the nose". Yes, Philtrum.

About 2 years ago when looking in the mirror, I started noticing that my philtrum looked narrower and/or deeper than it used to. It was more shadowed inside. The change was slightly disconcerting.

It may be related to aging. This page mentions philtrums getting longer as you age:
How your philtrum gives your age away

While searching for the word, I came across this interesting discussion:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/166884/what-is-the-name-of-the-area-of-skin-between-the-nose-and-the-upper-lip-mouth

It says that from an anatomical or medical sense, what I'd call the lips (or the upper and lower lip) is called vermilion, and the skin above and below those lips is called your upper and lower lip. So the terms "lip", "upper lip", and "lower lip" are ambiguous.

Per its etymology, philtrum originally meant "love charm".

comments