Using the dictionary....

I've just realised, to my horror, that many people do not understand the meaning and definition of the word "hypocrite". *GASP* (People who don't know the meaning of simple words like "hypocrite" probably don't understand the meaning of other words too I should think, but let's tackle it one word at a time.)

We shall use the dictionary, and the dictionary defines "hypocrite" as...
- a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold
- one who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler in religion
- a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

Hmm, so I can make the following conclusions just by checking out the dictionary....
- Unless something or someone is a religion, talking about it does not make me a hypocrite
- Unless I pretend to like something which I do not like, I am not a hypocrite

Ooh...sigh of relief then....

Oh, as a by-the-way, the online dictionary I used threw out the word "gossip" on the side. for all you knowledge-starved folks, here's the correct meaning of another often misused word.

gossip
noun
1: light informal conversation for social occasions
2: a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people
3: a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others
verb
1: wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies
2: talk socially without exchanging too much information;

So gossip usually refers to talk of a malicious, and personal nature, and about a specific person. Hmmm. Now the question I pose myself is, why would I want to talk about specific people whom are not related to me by anything, and whom I don't even care very much about?

Anyway, those who know me should know I don't talk behind people's back, I usually tell them to their faces.

Oh, by the way, a "hippo" is "a hippopotamous" (the idiot who came up with this definition deserves to be shot in the head!).

Seriously, a hippo is ...
1: an ancient Numidian town in northwestern Africa adjoining present-day Annaba in northeastern Algeria (Huh? Duh...)
2: massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa

Wow! I didn't know that about hippos!

Ahhhh! The wonders of a dictionary! It tells me so many things about myself, and other people as well, things I never knew!