Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Ambivalent

I'm not indifferent about the incorrect use of ambivalence. Are you?

Often people will say they are ambivalent about something when in fact, they are indifferent. Having no opinion about something does not mean you are ambivalent. For example, if someone says, "Do you want Mexican or Chinese for dinner?" If you think to yourself, "I really don't care at all, I am just hungry," you are indifferent. If you say to yourself, "I really like Mexican and a taco would be good. I like Chinese too and could eat it if we go," you are ambivalent. You have an opinion one way and you have an opinion another way.

Why do I bring this up? A friend and I talked about this in a different context recently and I thought it would be fun for me to blog about as it isn't the first time its come up for me. Ambivalent and indifferent are not the only words misused so maybe I'll do this again. I'm not indifferent about proper grammar but I still have a ton to learn myself!

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