cynic v. pessimist v. skeptic

A cynic questions people’s integrity and motives, believing that everyone is driven by selfishness.

A pessimist has a negative outlook not just toward people, but to life in general, and expects or emphasizes the worst in any situation. The opposite of pessimism is optimism.

A skeptic habitually doubts or questions assertions that most people take for granted. Skeptics require evidence before they can accept a claim as true.

Image courtesy of MotiFake.com.

morals v. ethics

Morals and ethics have very similar meanings. They are sometimes distinguished in the following ways:

• Morals are personal principles of behaviour used to differentiate between right and wrong. Ethics is a code of conduct applied to a group. Ethics may be social, professional, or religious. For instance, an attorney defending a murderer may be forced to act in a way that is professionally ethical but personally immoral.
• Morals concern what is decent; ethics concerns what is fair.
• Morals are inherent individual beliefs about good and bad. Ethics is the philosophical study of morality.

 wiseGEEK on morals v. ethics

tai chi v. chai tea

Tai chi, rendered in full as t’ai chi ch’uan (translation: supreme ultimate fist), is a Chinese meditative exercise and soft martial art form focused on maintaining physical and mental health, and characterized by slow, methodical movements.

Chai is the word for ‘tea’ in various South Asian launguages. For many English speakers, however, it specifically implies masala chai, an aromatic Indian beverage made with spiced black tea, milk, and sugar or honey.

atheist v. agnostic

Atheism is the absence of belief in a God or gods. This can range from those who haven’t been exposed to theism, and therefore have never considered the possibility, to those who actively reject the existence of any divinity. An agnostic maintains that it is impossible to know whether deities exist. These 2 beliefs are not mutually exclusive.

wiseGEEK on atheist v. agnostic

kosher v. parve

Kosher food is selected and prepared in accordance with kashrut, the set of Jewish dietary laws. The following are some principles of kosher cooking:

• Kosher meats include mammals that both have cloven hooves and chew their cud; because pigs aren’t ruminants, and horses lack cloven hooves, they aren’t considered kosher.
• Fish are kosher; shellfish and other aquatic animals are not.
• Herbivores are kosher; carnivores aren’t.
• Animals must be slaughtered in a specific way.
• Utensils used to prepare non-kosher food cannot be used in the preparation of kosher food.
• Some foods, including wine and cheese, must be prepared by Jews.
• Meat and dairy may not be consumed at the same meal.

Kosher foods are divided into 3 categories: meat, dairy, and parve (also spelt pareve). Parve derives from the Yiddish word for ‘neutral’, and since it contains neither meat nor milk, it can be eaten with either. Examples of parve foods are fruit, vegetables, fish, eggs, and grains.