No, but if you post a dictionary definition of a word and someone's next reply contains an aside that they learned the definition of a new word today, from context it usually means they learned it there and then.

As for the article, without knowing the definition of 'benighted', there are several different meanings available.

For example, say it meant 'dedicated'. That would fit perfectly, but the phrase would then have a different meaning of one who believes completely, rather than someone who is a fool for believing.