the word 'agnostic'

is the root word of agnostic 'gnostic'? if so, shouldn't agnostic be pronounced 'a-nostic'?

yes, no.

There's no way to be sure.

Agnostic is pronounced "too much of a weenie to be an athiest."

i like it when it's a front.
bad pun.
good music.

Did you hear about the insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic ?

He stayed awake all night wondering about the existence of doG.

gno

Maybe.

Agreed.

It bothers me when people use the term agnostic in reference to someone who claims they are undecided or unsure of the existence of a Supreme Deity; though this use is common enough to be found in the dictionary, this was not Huxley's intent.

ag·nos·tic
Pronunciation: ag-'näs-tik, &g-
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek agnOstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnOstos known, from gignOskein to know
: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob. unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god

That is, it's not "I don't know," it's "It's impossible for me to know."

Good input.

Or maybe it's pronounced "too curious a mind to rule things out in a knee-jerk fashion". i guess it all depends on your accent.

Exactly, thank you.

Though I often get tired of trying to explain this to people, so I just tell them I'm athiest.

whether it is huxley's intent or not, the root of the word supports both meanings.

Maybe, but there's no "should be's" in the English language. There are always exceptions to rules and we never really know why they’re exceptions. And hey there's a big difference between atheist and agnostic, one’s just as extreme as believing, except they don’t believe. The other admits that we don't know what the hell we’re talking about and that it’s ok. That's just my opinion though.

And if I didn't care about people being mean to me I would have just said that. ^

ask this guy what agnostic means...and you might not want to use the word weenie.

what about, "Oi! Weenie! You know how to pronouce Agnostic?" presumably the oi and weenie cancel each other out?

besides, we all know what it means, we just don't know how to say it...

I asked this christian right wing girl once what agnostic meant and she told me that it was what jews who believed in jesus called themselves...I found out later though that jews who believe in jesus have a much simpler name...JEWS FOR JESUS!

Of course, if you give me the choice between being agnostic or a jew for jesus...I'd call myself an agnostic either way, just to avoid the laughs "I'm a Jew For Jesus." probably gets...

anyway, back to the pronunciation of agnostic...

You're advocating that we examine the root of a word to determine it's correct usage in modern English? A specious argument.

spe·cious
Pronunciation: 'spE-sh&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, visually pleasing, from Latin speciosus beautiful, plausible, from species
1 obsolete : SHOWY
2 : having deceptive attraction or allure
3 : having a false look of truth or genuineness : SOPHISTIC

So do I mean your argument is beautiful and that I agree with it, or that I think is has a false look of truth, and disagree?

how bout oi-nostic

I should just stop trying to make jokes.
They always go awry.

Nah, I'm just in a mood to debate something; it's all in good fun. And misusing a word through the application of its commonly accepted, though technically incorrect, definition has been a hot topic all day in this thread about fetishes.

didnt go awry, joke taken, clever too. just a quick tribute to agnostic front. thats all.