Mekita Rivas, SNR communications associate, publishes a biweekly feature called "Grammar Guru."
Every other week, the Grammar Guru will share writing tips to help make your work as polished as possible. Some of these tips may address common spelling errors, while others will examine the many nuances of the English language.
Grammar Guru Tip #10
Contrary to popular belief and common usage, "disinterested" and "uninterested" are not synonyms. A "disinterested" person means he or she is impartial and is not taking sides (judges and referees are supposed to be "disinterested" and make fair, unbiased decisions).
"Uninterested" means not interested and is used to describe someone who couldn't care less about a certain person, situation or thing.
Example:
We are struggling to find twelve disinterested people for the jury.
She's uninterested in seeing any of the movies playing at the theater.
Need some grammar guidance? The UNL Style Guide (http://unlcms.unl.edu/ucomm/styleguide/) is a great resource for all university employees. If you have writing questions that the style guide doesn't answer, feel free to email the Grammar Guru at mrivas@unl.edu.