I think it's just possible your inflammatory style has undermined your attempt to correct the misunderstanding.
I would reccomend that, in this or future debates, it's best to avoid presenting statements as authoritative, like "these words mean such-and-such", but rather, as a function of how they are used by scientists.
That is, after all, what you are trying to prove; that scientists use "theory" to refer to well-developed models and "hypothesis" to refer to potentially testable conjectures. To that end it would be better to present examples of scientists using these terms - talkorigin.org has much to say on the subject of the meaning of "theory" - and not to simply state that this is how they're used. If you never leave the realm of assertion, you're easily countered by dictionary games. Remember too that most people never stop to think how dictionaries are made; they assume that dictionaries are perscriptive, not descriptive, and therefore presume that dictionaries are unquestionable authorities on the subject of words.
Just a suggestion. Why call your opponents dumbasses when you can show them the evidence and make it clear without having to say it? Much more effective.
This message has been edited by crashfrog, 09-20-2004 04:05 PM
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