Uninterested and Disinterested - One Word is Cannibalising the Other

By John James Carty

Teachers of English often point out the dangers of losing a good word from the language. For the last fifty years 'disinterested' has been abused and battered. Now it provides a meaning it was not meant to have while killing another word that already gave us the required meaning.

'Disinterested' has suffered this conversion because its cousin, 'uninterested', which should be equally useful and popular has been left out in the cold, unused and unable to do its proper job.

'Uninterested', is and should remain the opposite of 'interested' as in, 'he is not interested in his work,' 'she is not interested in her studies.'

It has become common to use 'disinterested' for this meaning. It´s wrong, of course, but even the best dictionaries and their experts concede that if the wrong thing is said often enough - at least in English - it will eventually become correct.

Fashion is as powerful in the English language as it is in areas like dress or music. Who wears a girdle or a waistcoat nowadays? Who listens to Al Johnson or Rudy Valee? For some reason, people like saying 'disinterested' and don´t know, or don´t like 'uninterested'

'Disinterested' means 'not having an interest in'. Perhaps it´s not surprising that it´s losing this correct meaning because the phrase 'to have an interest in' is also a bit out of fashion. One famous English law case of the last century was lost by the defendant (claiming in negligence because his property burnt down) because, as the judge noted, 'the defendant coolly adverted to his interest in the insurance office'. That is, he wasn't worried about the fire because he had insurance cover. We wouldn't talk about 'an interest' in that way now, although it's correct.

We have 'an interest in' something in this sense when, for example, we have shares in a company or a relative of ours is concerned in a particular project. Such an 'interest' might affect the decisions we make and that is why lawmakers, judges etc have to 'declare an interest' in matters they are dealing with.

So 'disinterested' simply means 'impartial', which is a positive, desirable thing; it does not mean that we are bored with the subject or lack interest - we might be keenly interested in a matter yet still be 'disinterested'. This word is necessary but we're losing it.

We really need to maintain both words with their proper meaning; 'uninterested' usually has a negative meaning, with a suggestion that the person should be interested, while being 'impartial' is generally positive and necessary.

It´s probably too late already, but if 'disinterested' only has it´s wrong meaning, what other word do we use for 'impartial'?

The free website [http://www.english-free123.com] teaches English as a foreign language (TOEFL) and as a second language (TESL).The English exercises are all originally written material. The site also provides opinions and ideas for teachers.

The author and publisher of [http://www.english-free123.com], John James Carty, is a retired lawyer and senior civil servant. He graduated LLB from London University (1972) and took the British National Training Certificate in 1995. He is a former editor of the snooker magazines Baulkline and Cue World. He now lives in Colombia, South America, where he teaches English.