Word Confusion
Published November 4th, 2006 in English LanguageThere are some words that people regularly confuse such as nauseated and nauseous. Here’s a quick clarification of some of those words.
Nauseated, Nauseous
The “traditional” view of these was that “nauseated” meant that you wanted to throw up and “nauseous” described something that would make you want to throw up. Now, the distinction has blended. It’s still “good” to say something like, “After I took the medicine, I felt nauseated,” but it’s becoming much less common to say, “That is nauseous medicine.” Instead, most people would say, “That medicine is nauseating.” The form “nauseating” has replaced “nauseous” in many of its original roles.
Uninterested, Disinterested
“Uninterested” means that you don’t care about something (as in “not interested”). “Disinterested” means that you are objective, that is, you don’t have a specific interest in or prejudice for one side or another. Thus, an uninterested jury is a bad thing, but a disinterested jury is a good thing.
Dying, Dyeing
If you just performed seppuku (hara-kiri), you are probably dying. At the same time, you are dyeing (coloring) your shirt red with blood. Hmm, that’s a bit gruesome. In the same instance, you are a “dyer” (a person who dyes). “Die” becomes “dying” and “dye” becomes “dyeing.”
Slash, Backslash
A slash leans to the right at the top (”/”) and a backslash leans to the left (”\”). If you imaging that the slash is facing the right, you can consider it leaning forward or back. You can say “forward slash,” but that’s generally not used unless you are emphasizing the fact that it is not a backslash. That means websites use slashes (”http://…”), but Windows file systems use backslashes (”C:\”).
“disinterested” also means “not interested”: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/disinterested
For whatever reason, that link goes to the verb “disinterest.” If you click on the choice for disinterested, their synonym is listed as “indifferent,” the primary meaning of which is unbiased or impartial. Of course, that too can mean something along the lines of apathetic. The usage notes point out the mixing of meanings, but it is good to know that “uninterested” always means “not interested” rather than “objective,” even if “disinterested” can currently be used for either meaning.
The fact is that “disinterested” means both “impartial” and “not interested.” The original meaning was “not interested” - it dates from 1612. The “impartial” meaning dates from 1659.
So I don’t know what your complaint is here. There is no confusion between these words.
The fact is (according to Gilman of MW and to Random House) that “disinterested” is used far more to mean “impartial” than “not interested” and that “uninterested” is not used to mean “impartial” in present day. It’s only logical to make a distinction, instantly clarifying statements like: “We require a jury with a certain level of disinterest.” The primary meaning of “disinterest,” “disinterestedness,” etc. is “impartial.” Saying there is no confusion between the words seems like a rather limited view (if there were no confusion, I’m sure a Google search wouldn’t reveal 100,000+ pages on the topic). Nearly all professors (in the US at least), recommend making the distinction. Without making distinctions between/among words, you end up with words like “cleave,” which is nearly its own antonym.
Then it seem to me that the confusion lies with the people who think that “disinterested” does not mean “not interested.”