To hate when people use the word 'ignorant' to mean 'rude'?

[Draineddraineddrained]

Ignorant doesn't mean rude. It doesn't mean discourteous. It doesn't mean thoughtless. It is a common, simple word. It has a specific meaning. So whyyy do so many people use it wrong??? It is ACTUALLY ignorant and it drives me crazy!

Sorry. Just saw it in another thread and got in a temper. I'll go and meditate or something.

It’s used in N Ireland to mean rude all the time, I didn’t think it was used like that In England - I always take Ignorant Cow to mean Thick Cow, but yeah, it probably IS meant to mean rude..

I don't think the "I'm not being ignorant" example is wrong either:

I'm not lacking knowledge or awareness of how to behave, I just lost my phone

Presently does mean now. As in, in the present That's still a perfectly valid dictionary definition.

I don't like it either but I was under the impression that it was a regional variation.

I would use ignorant if the reason they were being rude was because they were being totally small minded. Like someone saying something offensive because they don't know enough about it, they are ignorant. Alot of people talking about trans people on MN comes to mind

I prefer it to the constant use on here of the word 'grim' to mean anything from a tin of Cadbury's Roses to an en suite.

It’s definitely a regional thing. Totally acceptable usage in Northern Ireland. We also use “bold” to mean a wee bit naughty as opposed to brave.

@Howdoisawwithnosaw

I think they mean that people are ignorant of how to behave properly?

This.

It is a synonym for ‘rude’ I.e. you don’t know how to behave properly.

@5128gap

I prefer it to the constant use on here of the word 'grim' to mean anything from a tin of Cadbury's Roses to an en suite.

... the two words aren't related in any way?

I like it used that way. don't actually use it - just wasn't brought up in a family that used it that way - but plenty of people did when I was growing up. So its usage has now changed and that is what it means as well now.

No I phrased that badly, I meant the use of the word grim to describe those things, and anything else people find displeasing, when that isn't what grim actually means.

I grew up hearing 'ignorant' used in the way OP is finding annoying and I don't have a problem with it. I think of it like this: rudeness might be either deliberate or accidental, and when someone is rude because they don't know how to behave (eg never been taught to hold a door for someone, or to say please and thank you) then you might reasonably explain it by saying they're ignorant.

The old joke that 'a gentleman is never rude...accidentally' expresses a similar idea.

I always wondered if people were getting it confused with the word “arrogant”?

To think that "ignorant" means "rude" is, in itself, ignorant.

The other one I dislike is when people say "mean" instead of "nasty".
"She is really mean".

No, she is nasty - "Mean" means tight with money, not "nasty"

I couldn't agree more. I'm also have significant issues with 'I was sat' at the moment. YOU WERE SITTING. WE SAT OVER THERE, I WAS SITTING OVER THERE. NO ONE WAS SAT.

@ElenaCouch

I would use ignorant if the reason they were being rude was because they were being totally small minded. Like someone saying something offensive because they don't know enough about it, they are ignorant. Alot of people talking about trans people on MN comes to mind

You think people who are gender critical simply don't know much about trans people, are small minded and ignorant as you say? Really, why is that? And what is it that they say that is so offensive according to you?

@Draineddraineddrained

Ignorant doesn't mean rude. It doesn't mean discourteous. It doesn't mean thoughtless. It is a common, simple word. It has a specific meaning. So whyyy do so many people use it wrong??? It is ACTUALLY ignorant and it drives me crazy!

Sorry. Just saw it in another thread and got in a temper. I'll go and meditate or something.

‘Use it wrong’ Oh dear.

I totally agree! I hate it.

I dislike it, not least because it means the original meaning has become virtually unusable, particularly among the younger set, who view it as an insult, and are unaware, i.e. ignorant :o of its earlier meaning.

Soo many English essays where Macbeth was really ignorant. Nearly as bad as the "lifestyle" of people in Austen's novels.

Can we talk about ambivalent while we're here?

@ShowOfHands

Can we talk about ambivalent while we're here?

No because I don't really care about it one way or the other

@Lentil63

This is a vocab nazi thread, not a grammar Nazi thread 😁

@ShowOfHands

Can we talk about ambivalent while we're here?

How? What aspect of its usage gets on your thre'pennies?

@TiffanyAchingsHatFullofSky

Can someone use it in correct context so I know if I'm using it correctly?!

he was ignorant of the tax implications and ended up having to pay penalties.

@LittleGwyneth

I couldn't agree more. I'm also have significant issues with 'I was sat' at the moment. YOU WERE SITTING. WE SAT OVER THERE, I WAS SITTING OVER THERE. NO ONE WAS SAT.

but that is an older form, and perfectly correct in derbyshire etc and points north. i think it has spread more widely by so many young people moving about the country to go to distant universities and bringing back this usage to their origins/workplaces farther south. it is not incorrect.