We had the parable of the unjust judge at mass recently. The archbishop came. He gave a great sermon but it contained the following line: “scripture scholars tell us that it was not that this judge was corrupt or took bribes, it was just that he was disinterested”. I said to herself after mass, “Well what did you think of the archbishop?” She replied, “He doesn’t know the difference between uninterested and disinterested.” That’s my girl.
There is no joy in being a grammar pedant. She has years of suffering ahead of her, and it will elicit little sympathy. A government subsidised support scheme is the only answer for her, and other survivors.
It’s especially galling because the classic way to explain the difference between disinterested and uninterested is that you’d want a disinterested judge but not an uninterested one.
I suspect that particular stable door is long past bolting though. Apostrophes alone will give her enough grief to last a lifetime
MT, I know, you are too, too right.
Disgruntled, don’t I know it, that was the very example we used when explaining the difference to herself originally which is possibly why she noticed the error. I think you’re right about the apostrophe. I’ve been trying, with some success, to interest her in random capitalisation also. I fail to see why I should suffer alone.