Dear Geist,
On an essay I wrote about public reaction to a hit-and-run accident, my Sociology prof changed “disinterested passerby” to “uninterested passerby.” I like the prof, but this is one of those things of putting in their own wording because it sounds better to them. I don’t think I should get marks off for that. How can I bring it up without getting on her bad side?
—Jonah, Winnipeg MB
Dear Jonah,
According to most usage reference guides, an “uninterested” passerby doesn’t care about what happened; a “disinterested” passerby is unbiased. Sounds like uninterested is what you meant in the essay. That said, language changes over time. In some modern dictionaries, the two words are interchangeable, and disinterested can also mean “no longer interested.” Just to wrinkle it up even more, a couple of hundred years ago, uninterested meant “impartial.” So go ahead and raise it with your prof. But do your research first, and be kind to her—she obviously loves the fine nuances of our goofy language. For a bit more on this, see the Lit-Lorn item “Le mot juste.”
—The Editors
