Talk:disinterested

Disinterested does not mean Uninterested these are two separate words with two separate meanings confusion of the two is a common mistake. — This unsigned comment was added by 86.160.224.234 (talk).

See our citations, which prove that it is used this way sometimes. Equinox ◑ 20:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

@Equinox Hey, how would you compare the proscribed sense here to the proscribed sense of refute? I see both as serious misuse, but the refute misuse stings more to me. Do you have insight on this? Is there a difference in degree of wrongness? Geographyinitiative (talk) 18:51, 25 September 2023 (UTC) Modified

@Geographyinitiative: Sorry to say that's not a word I encounter especially often. I think I would use it in sense 1 but probably accept sense 2 without blinking. (As for computer jargon: look at what happened to hacker and troll...) Equinox ◑ 19:27, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

I've been trying to think how to clarify what I mean here. What I wrote above wasn't very specific. I think what I'm trying to say is that in my view, the correct sense of disinterested is an elite usage that the common man does not use, and the proscribed useage is wrong, but is more vulgar and crude, the common man's use. On the other hand, the correct use of refute is something anyone can use correctly, while the proscribed useage is utterly wrong and modern error. This may be reflected in the usage note on this page. I feel that my beliefs here may be held by others, but I'm not sure. --Geographyinitiative (talk) 20:31, 25 September 2023 (UTC)