Ignoramus

[HeartsJandJ]

So, walking to school this morning with DD (4). The footpath is narrow and a coach parked for the bigger children meant it was a bit more of a squash than going through.

A broad person came through this narrow gap texting on their phone, DD and I politely move over so she wasn't inconvenienced (she had started walking past the coach before us so it was only polite). She didn't even glance up from her texting to acknowledge us let alone thank us.

AIBU to think it's not even worth tutting at this kind of person as they are unlikely to change their behaviour?

Personally, I think this is all a bit of a tempest in a teapot. In my experience, anyone who grandstands about their own 'good manners' somewhat misses the point. Standing aside for someone to pass is a matter of courtesy. Expressing outrage when the passer by isn't sufficiently grateful for the courtesy cancels out any moral high ground accrued by the initial gesture.
Oh, and I agree that 'ignoramus' was wrongly applied, although language is of course fluid and this may well be an appropriate application in certain areas/ circles.

Re Ignoramus I didn't actually want to just say "rude" as that's quite a prescriptive description of someone.

I think "ignoramus" has a broader (snork) meaning than just rude. It paints a picture of someone who doesn't care very much about good manners or their fellow person. Which is what I thought about this person.

"I think "ignoramus" has a broader (snork) meaning than just rude. It paints a picture of someone who doesn't care very much about good manners or their fellow person."

It doesn't mean rude so it certainly doesn't have a "broader meaning than just rude". It doesn't paint any such picture.

I think you should look up the word Ignoramus, say you meant "very rude" rather than "ignoramus", and move on.

Perhaps if OP encounters this person again with her 'phone in hand, OP should also whip out her mobile, stare at the screen and accidentally walk straight into the 'broad' person?

Cote, really?

Oxford concise:

Ignoramus: an ignorant person
Ignorant: lacking knowledge; uninformed; ill-mannered; uncouth
Ill-mannered: having bad manners; rude

But you carry on.

are we in pedants corner? go and start a thread over there on the use/misuse of a word. its completely beside the point. op was just venting her frustration and asking if she'd over reacted. isnt that what aibu is for?

to op yanbu just unrealistic. i think the unwritten rule is that when on the phone all rules of etiquette go out the window.

Thank you mumsnobest

mumsnobest, well said.

Manners cost nothing and brighten every person's day.

YANBU.

you're welcome and thanks the flowers are lovely .

I think her being broad has a lot to do with it, if she was so 'broad' that both her and the op couldn't both fit past the gap at the same time then one of the two would have had to step aside and wait. As the lady had already started to walk though op I'm afraid yabu as she had the right of way so to speak so didnt have to say thanks, although I'm sure it would be nice if she did anyway.

I find a loud "Don't mention it" works a treat.

And ignorant doesn't mean rude

Yes, Hearts, really. Ignoramus doesn't mean "rude".

From Oxford Dictionaries

ignoramus

Pronunciation: /ˌɪgnəˈreɪməs/
noun (plural ignoramuses)
an ignorant or stupid person:
assume that your examiner is an ignoramus and explain everything to him

Origin:
late 16th century (as the endorsement made by a grand jury on an indictment considered backed by insufficient evidence to bring before a petty jury): Latin, literally 'we do not know' (in legal use 'we take no notice of it'), from ignorare (see ignore). The modern sense may derive from the name of a character in George Ruggle's Ignoramus (1615), a satirical comedy exposing lawyers' ignorance

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Btw at your:
"Ignoramus: an ignorant person
Ignorant: lacking knowledge; uninformed; ill-mannered; uncouth
Ill-mannered: having bad manners; rude"

So If A=B and B=C and C=D, then A=D, is it?

mumsnosbest - The only reason people are still telling OP "ignoramus doesn't mean rude" is because she is still claiming it does.

I wouldn't start a thread about this in Pedants' Corner because that would be a thread about a thread.

We are just talking and not calling each other names or something. That would be rude. Which OP thinks means ignorant?

mumsnosbest - The only reason people are still telling OP "ignoramus doesn't mean rude" is because she is still claiming it does.

Cote: I hate to break it to you but you're actually the one who thinks it does, not me.

How do you now she is an "ignoramus"? Don't you mean "rude"?

Cote, maybe the OP may not feel like she has to defend her wording if those, like yourself, hadn't picked her up on it to begin with.

It is a word. Get over it. If you can't stick to the topic without being unnecessarily pedantic, then don't post.

YANBU manners cost nothing.

YANBU she was a rude ignoramus

Rounds up a few and sends them off to pendants corner.

I'm not bickering here on some word's spelling I asked if she meant "rude" because thread title didn't agree with OP and it didn't make sense.

The only reason this continued so far is because OP insists that ignoramus means rude, when it very clearly and demonstrably doesn't.

People told her it doesn't. Dictionaries say it doesn't. Thesaurus says "rude" isn't a synonym for "ignoramus". OP still says it does.

It's not me being a pedant. It's the OP using the wrong word and then insisting it has an imaginary meaning.

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CoteDAzur Wed 27-Jun-12 09:37:13
How do you now she is an "ignoramus"? Don't you mean "rude"?

HeartsJandJ Wed 27-Jun-12 09:46:13
Yep that'd be ignoramus meaning ignorant meaning ill-mannered or indeed rude.

So yes I did mean ignoramus otherwise I wouldn't have written it.

If I were a pedant, I would be commenting on MissFaversham's post