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Thanks. English is not my first language, and the dictionary is telling me "disinterested" can mean "having or feeling no interest in something". Am I wrong? A

by BoppreH 13y ago

Thanks. English is not my first language, and the dictionary is telling me "disinterested" can mean "having or feeling no interest in something". Am I wrong? And by lack of interest, I mean for example the picture on the header. [ ] Can write code [ ] Can explain what it is [x] Is a Tory [x] Worked for Iain Duncan Smith's think tank I feel that image is trying to convince me she's there for purely political reasons and she's not at all interested in coding.

corin_ 13y ago
Your word choice was fine, and your English sounds great. But I don't think the image was trying to make her seem disinterested, I think it was trying to make her seem unqualified. The person in that job should be interested AND qualified, not interested and politically connected.
- Tloewald 13y ago
  disinterested means "not having a conflict of interest" not "having no interest", so I was simply trying to clarify the OP.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - Joeboy 13y ago
    To clarify your clarification, people use the word "disinterested" to mean "uninterested" far more often than they use it in the "correct" sense, in the UK at least.
    - corin_ 13y ago
      Disinterested can mean both, but uninterested can only mean the one thing, so it's possible to use uninterested incorrectly, but not disinterested
    - Tloewald 13y ago
      I see "disinterested" used correctly quite often. This isn't like failing to use whom and using who (no-one cares). It's using whom when you should use who (because whom sounds clever).
pessimizer 13y ago
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/disinterested_uninterested.htm http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/disinterested... 'Disinterested' does mean "having or feeling no interest in something," but only in the original sense of 'interest,' meaning a stake or investment, and a preference for a certain outcome. In that, it really means 'objective.' 'Uninterested' means 'not interested.' Super-common mistake, made by native English speakers at least 100M times a day.
TomSawyer 13y ago
Just accept the propaganda and quit being so bothersome.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
[x] sending e-mails [x] receiving e-mails [x] deleting e-mails... IT Crowd s01e01

by BoppreH 13y ago

corin_ 13y ago

Your word choice was fine, and your English sounds great. But I don't think the image was trying to make her seem disinterested, I think it was trying to make her seem unqualified. The person in that job should be interested AND qualified, not interested and politically connected.

Tloewald 13y ago
disinterested means "not having a conflict of interest" not "having no interest", so I was simply trying to clarify the OP.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- Joeboy 13y ago
  To clarify your clarification, people use the word "disinterested" to mean "uninterested" far more often than they use it in the "correct" sense, in the UK at least.
  - corin_ 13y ago
    Disinterested can mean both, but uninterested can only mean the one thing, so it's possible to use uninterested incorrectly, but not disinterested
  - Tloewald 13y ago
    I see "disinterested" used correctly quite often. This isn't like failing to use whom and using who (no-one cares). It's using whom when you should use who (because whom sounds clever).

pessimizer 13y ago

http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/disinterested_uninterested.htm http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/disinterested... 'Disinterested' does mean "having or feeling no interest in something," but only in the original sense of 'interest,' meaning a stake or investment, and a preference for a certain outcome. In that, it really means 'objective.' 'Uninterested' means 'not interested.' Super-common mistake, made by native English speakers at least 100M times a day.

TomSawyer 13y ago

Just accept the propaganda and quit being so bothersome.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

[x] sending e-mails [x] receiving e-mails [x] deleting e-mails... IT Crowd s01e01