[Ads-l] "spiritual, not religious"

Betty Birner bbirner at NIU.EDU
Thu Apr 20 14:24:45 UTC 2023


Excellent -- thank you!

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of ADSGarson O'Toole
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 4:02 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "spiritual, not religious"

External Email. Think before you click or reply.

Excellent point, Betty Birner. There has been a discussion about "nones", as noted by LH.
Here is a link to the inquiry which initiated a thread about "nones"
in February 2020 and a link to a key message in the thread:

https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2020-February/156518.html
https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2020-February/156537.html

Garson

On Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 4:46 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> Yes, I believe we’ve discussed “nones”, in both its semantic properties and the phonological aspects that make it unlikely to succeed in spoken English (although for different reasons depending on the sex of the referent).
>
> LH
>
>
>
> > On Apr 19, 2023, at 4:41 PM, Betty Birner <bbirner at NIU.EDU> wrote:
> >
> > They're also widely known as "nones" (from checking "none" on surveys of religious affiliation, despite not being atheists).  But I imagine this group is way ahead of me on this.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of 
> > Laurence Horn
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 3:00 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "spiritual, not religious"
> >
> > Well, maybe more than before, but it's hardly new. My mother, who died in 1975, used to describe herself as spiritual but not religious (as well as being agnostic), especially since "organized religion" was anathema to her.
> >
> > LH
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 3:09 PM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> >
> >> In my hearing, more people than before say that they are spiritual 
> >> but not religious.
> >> Maybe this has to do with changing perceptions of the definitions 
> >> of these terms.
> >> Stephen Goranson
> >>
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> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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