Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
DISINTERESTED / UNINTERESTED
These two adjectives are so closely related that they have actually swapped places in the English language as disinterested used to mean not interested, implying lack of curiosity or concern, whereas uninterested originally meant unbiased or impartial. However, this meaning for uninterested fell into disuse in the 18th Century, and the new meaning, not interested, soon took its place.
Around the same time, the word disinterested took up the old meaning, impartial, that used to define uninterested, and today that meaning holds fast while the earlier meaning, not interested, was revived in the early 20th Century so that disinterested can now mean either one.
Nonetheless, nowadays most people would consider impartial to be a more proper meaning for the word disinterested and not interested to be the only meaning of the word uninterested.
INCORRECT: We need to make sure that we can come up with an uninterested jury to try this highly publicized case.
CORRECT: We need to make sure that we can come up with a disinterested jury to try this highly publicized case.
ALSO CORRECT: I am sorry to say that my son is totally disinterested in learning a musical instrument.
BETTER: I am sorry to say that my son is totally uninterested in learning a musical instrument.
© 2018 Ann Henry. All Rights Reserved.