Part of the problem with the term atheism is that it's been weighted down by people of religious convictions in order to give them a level playing field in which to argue that atheism is itself a religion. So atheists are already at a disadvantage trying to explain the terminology because they've been preemptively undercut by theists.

Atheism simply means without gods. I live my life without adherence to any deities because I haven't seen any proof of them. Just because I'm willing to change my mind if someone offered proof -real proof -doesn't make me less of an atheist now nor does it make me an agnostic which is also a fraught term invented by Huxley.

But I agree with you and your sarcasm that depending on how people hold their conversation some atheists can be as pedantic as hard Christians