Today's Paris edition of the International Herald tribune has a well-crafted article about a possible Clinton v Giuilani contest for the White House, descibing their aborted battle for the Senate some years ago.

Quote:

"Clinton was going to paint Giuliani as divisive and undignified, temperamentally unsuited for the Senate, and profoundly disinterested in national and international affairs" her advisers said.

Two points here:

1) Presumably he should have said "uninterested", but can anyone confirm this, as I wasn't closely following the campaign in 2000 and "disinterested" may well have been being used correctly.

2) Do you now commonly write "advisers" (as opposed to "advisors") in the US?

"Disinterested" must be incorrect. One would not be described as "profoundly disinterested."

"Adviser," though acceptable according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, would not be my spelling choice.

quote:

Originally posted by coldfuse:

"Adviser," though acceptable according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, would not be my spelling choice.

Acceptable? 'Adviser' is the English spelling We are wondering whether Americans have now realised their error

quote:

We are wondering whether Americans have now realised their error

No, the English language has been perfected by the Americans.

Can you explain to me why it is wrong to say "profoundly disinterested" ? It sounds fine to me. So what is the difference between 'uninterested' and 'disinterested'? How would I use the two words in context?

quote:

Originally posted by dance girl:

Can you explain to me why it is wrong to say "profoundly disinterested" ? It sounds fine to me. So what is the difference between 'uninterested' and 'disinterested'? How would I use the two words in context?

It may be possible to be 'profoundly neutral' ! However, the likelihood is that the writer meant that the person had no interest in, did not care about, was not interested by the subject i.e uninterested, not that they took a neutral view, were impartial, in any argument or discussion concerning the subject i.e were disinterested

Collins' Dictionary gives "Disinterested: free from bias or partiality; objective "
and " Uninterested:indifferent, unconcerned"

The referee of a televised soccer match is meant to be 'disinterested' but the wife of any fan watching at home is almost certain to be 'uninterested' (The fan may accuse the referee of 'having an interest', of course, which is definitely not the same as saying the referee is 'interested'! )

Got it! Thanks Fred.