I have seen people almost come to blows in arguments that could have been avoided by ensuring that all parties had a shared understanding of the definition of a few pivotal words. Call me a purist, if you will, but when I offend someone, I want it to be a deliberate action on my part not the result of my opponents ignorance. I also like to limit my exposure to personal violence to times when I know I have the big battalions on my side – hard to do if your opponent gets tetchy for the wrong reasons.
Sure, I know it is unlikely that you would want to hunt me down and give me a good kicking, just because I called you ‘ignorant’, but it is not a chance that I am prepared to take. I don’t know how big you are, and there are an awful lot of you out there to do the kicking, so I am going to take the sensible precaution of defining some of the more contentious words used on the site.
So, before putting your ignorance and potential for violence on display, please read the following definitions:
