Meaning of the word ignorant

simu

According to dictionary.com:

Lacking education or knowledge.
Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake.
Unaware or uninformed.

However, I've noticed that some people on boards also use it as meaning "impolite" or "badly behaved". Where did this come from? Is it confined to certain parts of this country or what?

aidan_walsh

I think it spreads a little further than Ireland. It could also be read to assume a lack of knowledge in the ways of common decency, or social awareness... It's how I've read it in this situation...

Amz

I would imagine they mean that the person is ignorant to correct/polite behaviour i.e. they are unaware or uninformed as to what behaviours are expected of them by the other users etc.

tuxy

what about when someone one farts
and people call it ignorant?

simu

Originally posted by tuxy
what about when someone one farts
and people call it ignorant?

Yeah, that's what I meant - surely they mean impolite rather than unaware of the workings of one's digestive system! I can see how it could have arisen from the idea of being ignorant of accepted social behaviour but it sounds very "country-ish" to me as well.

Amz

It’s not ignorant to fart, let’s face it everyone does it! It is however ignorant to celebrate your “gaseous emissions” as many people, most notably male, are inclined to do particularly when they’re in the company of other aficionados.

seamus

I think the word from the meaning that can be applied is "unaware". I think when some people say ignorant, they refer to a lack of awareness of those around them. I'd use the word mostly when talking about drivers, so that's certainly what I refer to.

damntheman

It does mean lacking knowledge of, but people use it as a synonym for rude. I think someone may have mentioned it, but it could be used in that way as though the person was ignorant of manners.

Talliesin

It could be a generalisation by the gentry of the "lower classes" who are uneducated, ignorant of many things (though often of fewer things than the gentry are) and likely to engage in such impolite behaviour as belching loudly, using fish-knives and such ghastly Victorian innovations, having a television in plain sight when it is not being used, and drunken brawling in public houses.

It's more likely to be a term used by those members of the "lower classes" who see themselves as better than certain other members of the "lower classes" and who are therefore even more ridiculous in the condemnations I parodied above. A classic sign of such people is that they would use "lavatory" instead of "toilet" since they assume that the longer word is the 'posher', whereas "lavatory" is a term never used by the gentry who would either use "toilet" or various slang terms depending on which, if any, branch of the military they had once served in.

Actually, now I think of it I believe the shunning of fish-knives on the basis that Georgian-period cutlery is superior to Victorian has become something only the second group engage in.

Victor

Isn't "ignorant" also used as an abbreveiation of "acting ignorantly"?

Miles

simu wrote:

Yeah, that's what I meant - surely they mean impolite rather than unaware of the workings of one's digestive system! I can see how it could have arisen from the idea of being ignorant of accepted social behaviour but it sounds very "country-ish" to me as well.

Or unaware of the social taboos associated with it. Which could be called ignorant.

steveoo

The term "ignorant" has several general uses, yet overall refers to a person who is lacking a general education or knowledge of or in something - hence, "the ignorant man." For e.g. a person can be ignorant of something - eg. "John's ignorance of mathematics is problematic", or "what an ignorant driver" - describing a drivers poor knowledge of the fundamentals of driving a vehicle and the rules of driving.

Where the use of the word becomes problematic is when it is used as a verb. "That’s ignorant" is a common misuse or slang entrenched in the everyday use of many. The only people I have found who use it improperly are typically less educated or ignorant folk. The same people who use the "F" word as a catchall phrase without realizing the irony that a similar usage of the term "ignorant" does or doesn't make.

Earthhorse

Surely when someone says "That's ignorant" the word is being used as an adjective rather than a verb?

Blush_01

I've heard it used more at home than up here. That'd make me think it's more rural than urban. While it's used in its usual context, a la the dictionary, it's also used on a regular basis to denote behaviour that's considered socially incorrect, out of place, misguided or moderately (but not very) offensive. It's not a very strong thing to say about someone, but it's definitely not mild either.