To wish people would not say disinterested when they mean uninterested. It is confusing!

[pennyred]

Disinterested means "impartial" or "not taking sides." (In other words, not having a personal interest at stake.)

Uninterested means "not interested." (In other words, not showing any interest.)

If we merge the two, then bits of Dickens will stop making sense! I am unusually irked by this.

Anyone who was watching Dr Who in 2007 should know what decimated means since The Master gave us a precise (and correct) definition.

I agree handout disinterested and uninterested, they mean different things and one thing is good while the other may not be (depending on context). Infer and imply also do my head in. Todays Times quick cryptic clued 'infer' as imply and it has caused outrage on the blogs. Outrage. Rightly so.

But then nobody will see it, ChippingIn

The distinction is gone (if it was ever universal in English), sorry, YABU.

The distinction isn't gone.

Speak for yourself fredfred - the distinction is alive and well Chez Bikket

no fredfred the distinction has not gone, not here anyway.
Even non native speakers are aware of it, the really really good ones that is.

Can someone explain the difference btw infer and imply? I'm never sure i'm using the right one.....

I could infer something from what you have said.
You implied it.

Thank you Sunny!

If somebody says or does something, they be may (or may not be) implying something different/additional. The person who does/may do the inferring is the person who hears or reads the original person's statement and then draws conclusions. You infer as a result of reading/listening/watching. You imply as a result of writing/speaking/acting.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to point out that you do not reign someone in. That is what reins are for.

I'm with you, OP. And the posters irked by imply/infer. For me it's discrete/discreet - hate it when people use the wrong one :)

I also loathe the use of 'ignorant' to mean stupid/rude

What gets me is when affect/effect are used incorrectly. Grrrr....

By the time it makes it into the OED saying that the use you dislike is there, I'd say it's impossible for you to claim it's anything but a note of history that there was a distinction. Once people use the word in a particular way and are understood for it, that word becomes acceptable, it's how languages evolve.

It's gone, you've lost it, you can be sad that the language has changed, you can be sad that a sense is lost, but you cannot complain when people don't follow your rules. They're doing it for a reason, probably preferring the sound and rhythm of the use you dislike in this case. Your preferences do not override others.

I think this thread is proof that people can complain.

Add to my list wilful misuse of 'can'.

And the reason that people are misusing the words is that they haven't been properly educated. We shouldn't bow to ignorance. We should embark upon a mission to civilise. Because that always works out really well.

Actually, the "not interested" meaning of disinterested is older than the "impartial" meaning of the word going back as far as 1600 or so. It shifted sometime later and grammarians began to insist on a distinction between the two. The meaning is now shifting back, which is fine with me. "Dis" and "un" mean essentially the same thing. It's different meanings of "interest" that keep the distinction alive.

Celibacy. That's the one that gets me. My understanding of the word is celibacy is the state of living without the benefit of spouse or children.
Chastity is (usually) being sexually abstinent.
So you can live with your spouse but not have sex so you cannot be considered celibate.
Catholic priests, nuns and monks take vows of chastity and celibacy.
I am neither chaste or celibate.
(Should that be 'nor'?)

What SconeRhyhmes said. I was once pulled up about it by a very gleeful woman at an event I was reading at.

I looked it up. And considered going back to point it out to her, but then realised that I'm not quite that much of a twat

The really annoying thing is that, in the context in which it was used, it could actually have had either meaning.

I haven't fumed about this ever since while muttering about my two linguistics degrees. Oh no, not me. I'm forgiving like that...

YANBU!

YANBU, it is very annoying to lose the useful distinction between uninterested and disinterested.

I completely agree about discreet and discrete too. And unsociable and antisocial. The best distinction between the last two, I read on Mumsnet; I'm afraid I can't remember who said it but I'm going to repeat it anyway: "Unsociable means you don't want to go to the party. Antisocial is crapping in a pot plant when you get there."