A question about atheistic “beliefs” (opinions, guesses, etc.)

[Angrboda]

But you say that you define an atheist as someone who identifies as atheist.  That suggests to me an interesting thought experiment.  Let's say you're learning Chinese, and you know a good bit of Chinese but have yet to learn the word for atheist.  Now suppose you're talking to a person who speaks only Chinese, and you want him to tell you what the Chinese word for atheist is.  Stating it in English, what would you ask your Chinese friend in order to get him to tell you the word for atheist in Chinese?

That is not an "interesting thought experiment"...that is desperation being typed.

Okay, if you say so. Do you have an answer?

But if a person decides to include the word "atheist" in a descriptor he/she applies to self...that person almost certainly has a "belief" that there are no gods...or that it is more likely that there are no gods than that there is at least one. Otherwise the person including atheist is doing so only because some dictionaries demand it be be done. Anyone doing that is an asshole.

Or, perhaps they understand the word atheist differently than you do. Is it not possible that, unlike your explanation, they simply view the word differently, that atheism only implies a lack of belief?

Funnily enough, I actually agree with you to a degree. For many atheists, they do have a belief about gods. Unfortunately it's not universal, which means it's not essential to the definition of atheist, and so makes a poor foundation for describing all atheists.