Comments on: Indisposed

By: Donna

Donna — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:27:02 +0000

Although David will probably never see this, I find his haughty comment a bit offensive, as “indisposed” has not always meant “slightly unwell”, as the word detective clearly states. Even now, it also means “unwilling”. Apparently his education ended in 1966, and he is not open to the inevitable evolution of our language. I believe people have simply misunderstood its use and have not misused it in an effort to sound more educated than they are, as David suggests.

I also misunderstood “indisposed” to mean busy with something we don’t talk about in polite conversation, such as using the restroom. I have always heard it used in the phrase “indisposed at the moment” and always in response to a person who has called asking to speak to someone on the phone or who has made an unexpected visit to someone’s home. In this context, I don’t feel that many other people’s and my own conclusion is illogical. As others have said, perhaps this meaning will become accepted in the future.

By: Cam

Cam — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:23:20 +0000

I had assumed that people were confusing ‘indisposed’ with ‘otherwise disposed’, although I am now doubting my understanding of the latter. I thought that was the one that meant ‘busy’, in the sense of just plainly ‘doing something else’.

By: David

David — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:22:27 +0000

Sorry, but I am old enough to know the definition has always been sick or ill (“slightly ill” is the definition per my 1966 edition dictionary), but the word has been misused for just as long by people trying to appear more educated than they apparently were.

By: CMW

CMW — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:02:07 +0000

My impression was exactly the same as yours, used it last weekend in a text message with the intent of implying “tied up elsewhere”, I suppose I remember my father using it this way.
The recipient assumed I was ill, and I was surprised to learn the actual definition.
Perhaps we are just decades ahead of our time.