Uninterested/disinte rested

Maw

ps

I'm glad you bothered

Discreet and discrete - I see it misused frequently on the threads!

There is a space in the heading on my pc Blue45Sapphire - but that is probably the fault of my pc.
I rested my case.

Just this morning I have already clocked “ nerve wracking”and “loose” ( meaning lose) but I couldn’t possibly comment. [ wink]

Several times lately I have seen 'rein of terror' and 'reign it in' even on TV subtitles.

Yes Maw it was deliberate. I should have made that clear!

Likewise “straight jacket” and “dire straights” !

Sorry I realise that was a deliberate misspelling

Pollyperkins, “he led the expedition” surely?

Can I just say again, on my laptop, phone and tablet there are absolutely NO spelling mistakes or spaces in the title to this thread, and no, it is not a typing error either. I am beginning to wish I had not bothered....

That s a spelling mistake B9. When there are two words with similar spelling but different pronunciation and meaning a lot of people find it confusing. Other examples are read and red (I red a book!), lead and led (he lead the expedition!). Spell check does not pick these words up as they are legitimate spellings.
A recent example I saw referred to the Straights of Dover. (Should be Straits.) These all sound the same when spoken.

What I don't understand is the number of people who put an extra 'o' in lose, so they 'loose' interest!

My neighbour is a legend at saying almost the right thing.
She has COPD, which she calls VD, COD, and all manner of other things.

Its always a pleasure speaking to her.

Heehee Maw that’s very funny and clever, worth having as a poster on the wall.

I had a boss once who was famous within the team for saying the wrong thing. It was actually endearing. I wish I'd kept a record. The only one I can remember is when undertaking a risky project that could go very wrong. If that happened he said our team would be the escape goats.

Ha ha Maw - love it!

Ooooh! This invites so many comments, many of them GN-based!
I won't give in to temptation!

Maw ? As you say, it’s worth persevering.

I have seen this before but hope I may post it again.
Pedants only need bother to persevere, but it is worth it! Just hope you can read it!

Yes, I felt awkward about the gran who posted that she was 'disinterested' in her grandchild. I was sure she meant 'uninterested'.
I have worked a lot with people who have English as another language, and have learned to be careful, helpful, and when appropriate, have a laugh. In some ways it is more difficult working with those who were brought up with English, but sadly, had a poor education. It is obvious that they will be more sensitive.
Sometimes I made a joke by casting myself as 'the old fashioned one' who fussed about things, and joined in with a laugh.
I'm also aware that language changes over time. My kids have recently delighted in telling me that 'literally' can now be used for emphasis, and not actually taken literally!
I have twice recently heard people mis-using 'hoi polloi' to mean stuck up people (I think because they equate it with 'hoity-toity'). The first was on the radio, so I wasn't completely shocked when a friend used it. He is a good friend, so joined in when I said 'you know, that's not how I use that term'.
My favourite, which I do use, was my mother, doing difficult or dirty chores would say she was getting it all done 'in a foul swoop' which seemed quite picturesque!

It may be becoming more frequent, but my English teacher in 1965 went on at great length on the subject of the difference between uninterested and disinterested, as well as telling us that aggravating does not mean annoying, but that something is being made worse!

BlueSapphire on my computer there is an extra space between the e and the r in disinterested, which is I assume a typing error, not a spelling one.

Rocket salad - hilarious!

I agree with what Blue45Saphire says.

When we were in primary school we were often asked to compose sentences to illustrate the difference between pairs of words like imply and infer, and uninterested and dissinterested, and it is annoying to hear highly paid tv presenters getting these words confused.

Does an extra space (the desktop version) count as misspelt?