tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post5751958469908486581..comments2023-10-29T21:28:41.709+10:30Comments on Pavlov's Cat: The TestKerryn Goldsworthyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-64744628977300287202008-03-20T00:39:00.000+10:302008-03-20T00:39:00.000+10:30Disinterested seems to me more important than the ...Disinterested seems to me more important than the other misused words referred to here. The others have value for literary merit, but I don't think the actual concept of flaunting is being lost when the word is used in place of flouting.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I think the abuse of disinterest is part of a social forgetting that such a thing can exist (aside perhaps from football umpires). <BR/><BR/>Part of the horror of the Howard years was the way that people who were, and were once seen as, disinterested became falsely labeled as partisan, and their contributions dismissed as a result.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-15562398479929995152008-03-14T14:22:00.000+10:302008-03-14T14:22:00.000+10:30Sounds like Peter Corris to me, FXH, but I couldn'...Sounds like Peter Corris to me, FXH, but I couldn't tell you which one.Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-66605175917387531002008-03-14T12:59:00.000+10:302008-03-14T12:59:00.000+10:30It's a bit of a late contribution I know but I'm s...It's a bit of a late contribution I know but I'm sure you'll know where this is from:<BR/><BR/><I>After a pause I shook my head. "You've overplayed your hand. Do you know the meaning of the word disinterested?"<BR/><BR/>That caught his vanity. "Yeah, I'm disinterested in everything you have to say"<BR/><BR/>I stood. "You've got it wrong. Look it up. It means uninvolved, having no stake in something. You're not disinterested in this Charley. You're up to your balls in it." I dropped a card on his desk. " I couldn't care less about you or your stash or any reward. I cared about Jerry. Get in touch when you've thought it over."<BR/><BR/>I walked out, nodded to the secretary and left the building. I thought I'd accomplished something, but I wasn't sure what. </I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-38051730094002630572008-03-13T20:08:00.000+10:302008-03-13T20:08:00.000+10:30I'm uninterested in being organised.My dream is to...I'm uninterested in being organised.<BR/><BR/>My dream is to have an editor with me every minute, so everything I say is a as good as a polished chapter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-85855690287163516772008-03-13T16:27:00.000+10:302008-03-13T16:27:00.000+10:30Not to mention the difference between disorganise...Not to mention the difference between disorganised and unorganised - I am certainly the former, but definitely not the the latter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-72300966763762616112008-03-12T14:33:00.000+10:302008-03-12T14:33:00.000+10:30Oh dear, I agree about needing "good" writing to h...Oh dear, I agree about needing "good" writing to have, you know, "proper" grammar so please keep up the fight for "disinterest" and "reticent", Pav. <BR/><BR/>Instant fail for me is "I"/ "me" confusion as in "They gave the book to Lisa and I".Mary Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04209981534012481639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-46173936846355386802008-03-12T11:58:00.000+10:302008-03-12T11:58:00.000+10:30Thanks all, lovely fine tuning. The novel I'm curr...Thanks all, lovely fine tuning. <BR/><BR/>The novel I'm currently reading not only features 'disinterested' to mean 'uninterested' before the pagination reaches double digits, but follows it up a few pages later with 'cohort' as a synonym for (singular) associate/friend/colleague. Fail. Major fail.<BR/><BR/>One thing that worries me a bit about these discussions, at least when I'm the person who started them, is that it's often assumed I'm making moral judgements, and of ordinary non-professional-writer folks at that. <BR/><BR/>But it's so not about that, at least not for me. The Kaths and Kims of the world are very welcome to say whatever they like, and I rejoice in the fact that they will, with or without my or anyone else's blessing. <BR/><BR/>For me it's about professional writing (or speaking): about language as a craft and the fine tuning of the technique thereof, and yes that was a joke. It's about the people who use language professionally -- journalists, writers, lecturers -- because it's their work that sets the standards. ("I've seen this in print, so it must be right.") Daily usage is one thing, but any writer who uses language badly out of ignorance deserves to be hauled over the coals for it.Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-74268931771966791352008-03-11T22:13:00.000+10:302008-03-11T22:13:00.000+10:30Oh in NSW they flaunt those rules all the time. Be...Oh in NSW they flaunt those rules all the time. Believe me, it's definitely flaunting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-42325117930079533082008-03-11T19:36:00.000+10:302008-03-11T19:36:00.000+10:30Flaunt and flout. Horrors. Although it would be di...Flaunt and flout. Horrors. Although it would be diverting to see someone really flaunting the rules I suppose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-64821237589707801552008-03-11T12:25:00.000+10:302008-03-11T12:25:00.000+10:30If I could get just one writer to use "significant...If I could get just one writer to use "significant" correctly, I'd die a happy editor. (More accurately, I'd rather they stopped using it incorrectly)<BR/><BR/>I agree heartily with the un/dis problem, and the minuscule distinction. I'd also add "refute" and "deny" as a test: they are not the same thing. Howard might deny the claim that he's a greasy weasel, but he'd have a hard time refuting it.<BR/><BR/>I hope you get well (and cool) soon, Pav!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-6236965760313386402008-03-11T11:39:00.000+10:302008-03-11T11:39:00.000+10:30Amazing how we can get worked up about these thing...Amazing how we can get worked up about these things. Rightly so, too!<BR/><BR/>Not condoning it; dis- and un- are actually words.<BR/><BR/>I'll swap a thousand dis and uns for one pseudo, life-sucking, non-word, semi-spat 'teh'!<BR/><BR/>Have a splendiforous day nonetheless, Robert.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-53760124915269339902008-03-10T19:56:00.000+10:302008-03-10T19:56:00.000+10:30oh. I can use the dis/un interested well enough, b...oh. <BR/>I can use the dis/un interested well enough, but I am feeling very inadequate in the face of pleonastically....fifihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06946945635726214503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-24344850525510520242008-03-10T14:43:00.000+10:302008-03-10T14:43:00.000+10:30The art of editing is so undervalued now, it makes...The art of editing is so undervalued now, it makes me want to weep.M-Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409916623998907121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-66046550368834494032008-03-10T14:16:00.000+10:302008-03-10T14:16:00.000+10:30I read something with this mistake just last week ...I read something with this mistake just last week - possibly in the ALR, I can't remember. It infuriates me and I can't not comment on it to anyone standing nearby.'signorina'https://www.blogger.com/profile/17552800884239465316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-70980922243035820452008-03-10T13:50:00.000+10:302008-03-10T13:50:00.000+10:30*brandishes Red Pen of Editing*I love 'disinterest...*brandishes Red Pen of Editing*<BR/><BR/>I love 'disinterested'. I love using it in front of people who think it means 'uninterested'. It is an interesting exercise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-69604905111228026402008-03-10T13:17:00.000+10:302008-03-10T13:17:00.000+10:30On the delightful Mr Munson and his kind - this La...On the delightful Mr Munson and his kind - this <A HREF="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005423.html#more" REL="nofollow">Language Log post</A> is worth looking over.lucy tartanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244574932248425378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-80492161547758501632008-03-10T13:11:00.000+10:302008-03-10T13:11:00.000+10:30I have the same feelings about disinterestedness. ...I have the same feelings about disinterestedness. Interesting that Fowler (or Gowers) thought it was a lost cause. It's not something I'd ever correct a person upon - not worth making yourself look mad. But just the same I think the style guide authors are right to point out it's a disinction worth preserving. You could spin a whole novel out of it and two hundred years ago somebody probably did.<BR/><BR/>I think while you were writing this post, I was belatedly arguing with another commenter in your 'alot' post. I suppose the lesson for me is that it's not nice to be corrected. <BR/><BR/>'Reticent' pleonastically used instead of 'reluctant' in constructions like 'I was reticent to join in the conversation' is another one.lucy tartanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244574932248425378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17433936.post-44532354637833581002008-03-10T12:48:00.000+10:302008-03-10T12:48:00.000+10:30I also have that distinction as a test. Another is...I also have that distinction as a test. Another is 'miniscule' instead of minuscule -- a book has to work very hard to win me back once it's done that.Jonathan Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09578332677544175692noreply@blogger.com