About-Picard Law - Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Several misleading false cognates (faux amis) exist in French and English word definitions, which can confuse discussions of religion and cults:

  • The French noun culte means any "(religious) worship", or, in a legal context, "religion" taken in a broad sense. The phrase association cultuelle (quite distinct from association culturelle, association promoting culture) thus refers to an organisation that supports religious worship, not to a "cult" in the often derogatory sense found in the English language.
  • The French noun secte can have the meaning of the English "sect". However, in general parlance it has the derogatory meaning of the English usage of the word "cult".
  • The adjective sectaire ("sectarian") almost always has a derogatory meaning: it designates people or institutions with a narrow-minded outlook on the world, who exclude other points of view.

Read more about this topic:  About-Picard Law

Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:

    One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.
    Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)

    [T]here is no breaking out of the intentional vocabulary by explaining its members in other terms.
    Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)

    A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.
    Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)