contemplativeDisinterested or uninterested? How long we should cling to a word's original meaning. - By Ben Yagoda - Slate Magazine (sic.) Yes, they left out the second question mark (?) in that title.
So, do disinterested and uninterested have different meanings to you? Are there any other words or phrases that have seen definition-creep in recent years that cause you to trip over them now and then?
ETA: Some examples of my own;
- From an advert on the TV for some car or other, "less emissions". Surely that should be "fewer emissions" or maybe "lower emissions"?
- I am sure that I remember a "stain" being something that did not come out in the wash, when I was a child, as in, "Be careful or that will stain!" rather than, "Be careful or that will make X dirty!" Now, however, if you get ketchup, wine or grass on your clothes (or sheets or whatever) it is immediately a "stain" and you need to add extra substances to your laundry process because a biological laundry powder/liquid/tablet will not be up to the job on its own. Maybe the manufacturers of said laundry powders/liquids/tablets should be fined/sued/whatever for selling a product that does not do what it says on the box/bottle/packet?
I can see this maybe becoming an occasional/regular posting on my LJ. I hereby add the tag "language-creep".
