Dis/uninterested - Wordsmith.org

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#114328 - 10/24/03 09:16 AM Dis/uninterested
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13659	The word pair disinterested/uninterested is one that sparks some debate in certain circles. As you may be aware, the present day, prescribed definitions are the reverse of what they were several hundred years ago, as a trip to your friendly local OED will confirm (or even AHD4 at http://www.bartleby.com/61/32/D0273200.html). David Carkeet, in his light-hearted TVR article in the September issue (http://www.vocabula.com/2003/VRSept03Carkeet.htm) points out that these words, among others, do not exactly lend themselves to a great stability in meaning. I.e., there is nothing particular about the word disinterested that speaks for it meaning unbiased, impartial as opposed to lacking in interest. Can anyone think of any other pairs of words that would belong to this dis/un family?
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#114329 - 10/24/03 09:31 AM Re: Dis/uninterested
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10464 Loc: this too shall pass	purely as a matter of interest, you understand, this is a many time yart. one of the instances links to the M-W usage gloss. http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=96868
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#114330 - 10/24/03 09:31 AM Re: Dis/uninterested
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	Disinterred would mean dug up. Uninterred would mean not buried. At least that is my impression.
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#114331 - 10/24/03 09:42 AM Re: Dis/uninterested
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13659	Good one, Dr Bill. And, tsuwm, the long involved explanation was using dis/uninterested merely as a starting point. Mainly I'm interested in word pairs such as the one offered by Dr Bill. I plead not guilty to any charge of default and yartery.
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#114332 - 10/24/03 12:58 PM Re: Dis/uninterested
Zed Pooh-Bah Registered: 08/27/02 Posts: 2154 Loc: British Columbia, Canada	On a slight tangent check out Trustfulness/trustworthyness in Meta-words south of the line.
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#114333 - 10/24/03 04:21 PM jointedness
Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Registered: 09/06/00 Posts: 2788 Loc: Seattle, Washington, USA	Disjointed means that the object was, at one time, connected at the joints, but these are either broken or out of place. Unjointed means that the object had no joints in the first place.
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#114334 - 10/24/03 04:36 PM a detour
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York	Father Steve's post reminded me of something: the correct term for Siamese twins now is "co-joined" twins. Why not "joined"?
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#114335 - 10/24/03 04:43 PM Re: a detour
nancyk addict Registered: 03/09/01 Posts: 508 Loc: Metro Detroit (MI)	I've only ever seen it as "conjoined" when referring to twins, but the question still holds: What's wrong with plain old "joined?"
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#114336 - 10/24/03 05:27 PM Re: a detour
maahey addict Registered: 12/03/02 Posts: 555	What's wrong with plain old "joined?" Conjoined, to clearly characterise a seamless contiguity. Plain join doesn't do that.
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#114337 - 10/24/03 06:07 PM Re: jointedness
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13659	Another good one. Thanks, Father.
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