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disoriented/disorientated

English translation: I would say none .... prefer disoriented

03:05 Jan 31, 2006
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Linguistics
English term or phrase: disoriented/disorientated
what is the difference between these two terms?

TIA!
Sandra C.
France
Local time: 18:13
Selected answer:I would say none .... prefer disoriented
Explanation:
my understanding

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Note added at 7 mins (2006-01-31 03:12:56 GMT)
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Definitions of disoriented on the Web:

confused: having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity; "I frequently find myself disoriented when I come up out of the subway"; "the anesthetic left her completely disoriented"


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Note added at 9 mins (2006-01-31 03:14:57 GMT)
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disorientated was found in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary at the
entries listed below. disorientate · disoriented ...
dictionary.cambridge.org/ results.asp?searchword=disorientated - 8k - Cached - Similar pages
Selected response from:

David Hollywood
Local time: 13:13
Grading comment
well, that's what I thought. I too cringe when I hear 'disorientated'...
Thank you all!!!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +13I would say none .... prefer disoriented
David Hollywood
3 +9Agree with David
Kim Metzger


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +13
disoriented/desorientated
I would say none .... prefer disoriented


Explanation:
my understanding

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2006-01-31 03:12:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Definitions of disoriented on the Web:

confused: having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity; "I frequently find myself disoriented when I come up out of the subway"; "the anesthetic left her completely disoriented"


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 mins (2006-01-31 03:14:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

disorientated was found in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary at the
entries listed below. disorientate · disoriented ...
dictionary.cambridge.org/ results.asp?searchword=disorientated - 8k - Cached - Similar pages


David Hollywood
Local time: 13:13
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 51
Grading comment
well, that's what I thought. I too cringe when I hear 'disorientated'...
Thank you all!!!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Kim Metzger
6 mins
  -> thx Kim :)
agree  Marcelo González: "disorientated" reminds me "conversated" (instead of "conversed") // I prefer "disoriented" as well.
41 mins
agree  Richard Benham: "De deux mots, choisis le moindre"--Valéry (I think).
2 hrs
agree  RHELLER: I prefer disoriented
3 hrs
agree  Dave Calderhead
4 hrs
agree  Jocelyne S: Disoriented
5 hrs
agree  Jack Doughty: Oxford English Dictionary has both.
5 hrs
agree  KathyT: 'Disorientated' just makes me cringe :-P
7 hrs
  -> me too Kathy :) thx to all :)
agree  sarahl (X): tater tots, anyone?
11 hrs
agree  Will Matter: "Disorientated" is very bad English. Use "disoriented" instead.
12 hrs
agree  conejo: I agree with Kathy... "disorientated" sounds like the person was disoriented when they said it!
17 hrs
agree  Peter Shortall: My English Lit teacher used to "correct" me whenever I wrote "disoriented", but I stubbornly persisted!
19 hrs
  -> and rightly too :)
agree  Seema Ugrankar
21 hrs
  -> thx to all :)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +9
disoriented/desorientated
Agree with David


Explanation:
Just wanted to add more background info.

ORIENTATED VERSUS ORIENTED
[Q] From David Holland: “I am uneasy about the word orientated as in business-orientated. I feel the word should be oriented. Am I right, wrong, pedantic, or what?”
[A] We have a minor oddity here, in that both orient and orientate come from the same French verb, orienter, but were introduced at different times, the shorter one in the eighteenth century and the longer in the middle of the nineteenth. There’s been a quiet war going on between the two of them ever since. I tend to use oriented and orientated pretty indiscriminately myself, choosing the shorter one when it seems to fit the flow of the sentence. Robert Burchfield, in the Third Edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage, says “one can have no fundamental quarrel with anyone who decides to use the longer of the two words”. But all this is a British view, since here orientated is common; in the US it is less so and considered much less a part of the standard language. So, as always, it’s as much a case of who you are writing for and where you are doing so.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ori1.htm

Adj. 1. disoriented - having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity; "I frequently find myself disoriented when I come up out of the subway"; "the anesthetic left her completely disoriented"
lost, confused
unoriented - not having position or goal definitely set or ascertained; "engaged in unoriented study"; "unoriented until she looked at the map"
2. disoriented - socially disoriented; "anomic loners musing over their fate"; "we live in an age of rootless alienated people"
alienated, anomic
unoriented - not having position or goal definitely set or ascertained; "engaged in unoriented study"; "unoriented until she looked at the map"

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disoriented


Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 10:13
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 187

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sarahl (X): yes, I guess oriented came from orienter, orientated from orientation. :-)
36 mins
agree  Henry Hinds: I for one would much prefer "disoriented".
43 mins
agree  Balasubramaniam L.
1 hr
agree  Refugio: In school we were taught that orientated, and by extension disorientated, is not "educated usage."
2 hrs
agree  Richard Benham: "De deux mots, choisis le moindre"--Valéry (I think).
2 hrs
agree  KathyT: With Henry and Ruth, above.
7 hrs
agree  Mikhail Kropotov: Nice references
8 hrs
agree  Ken Cox: IMO 'orientated' is strictly UK usage (but maybe I didn't mix with the right crowds in NA).
9 hrs
agree  Will Matter: and I agree with you.
12 hrs
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