jigawatt sez: increase your wordiness
disinterested (adj) - Free of bias and self-interest; impartial
This word is commonly used as an intellectually sounding replacement for "uninterested". But I like the official definition better. "Uninterested" works fine for its purposes, but when used correctly, "disinterested" brings about an aspect of "interest" that is not as common. The most common use of "interest" means curiosity about something. But there's another use of it like in the phrase "conflict of interest". We say that someone has an "interest" in something if they have a monetary (or otherwise) stake in it, whether or not they are actually curious about it. This "interest" might make them biased if they are asked to comment upon it. Someone who has no "interest" in the thing will be able to make a "disinterested" comment on it, even if they are curious about it.
This word is commonly used as an intellectually sounding replacement for "uninterested". But I like the official definition better. "Uninterested" works fine for its purposes, but when used correctly, "disinterested" brings about an aspect of "interest" that is not as common. The most common use of "interest" means curiosity about something. But there's another use of it like in the phrase "conflict of interest". We say that someone has an "interest" in something if they have a monetary (or otherwise) stake in it, whether or not they are actually curious about it. This "interest" might make them biased if they are asked to comment upon it. Someone who has no "interest" in the thing will be able to make a "disinterested" comment on it, even if they are curious about it.
posted by jigawatt at 3:38:00 PM
1 Comments:
This word-blurring can also cause ambiguity—for example:
James was a disinterested participant in yesterday's board meeting.
I read that sentence as meaning James was unbiased. I imagine that he may have been a facilitator or an arbitrator. But many would read that sentence as meaning James was bored. They imagine that James stared out the window and doodled.
Those people bother me.
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