VOA名师答疑2024--Misinformation和Disinformation的用法

Misinformation, Disinformation

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from a reader in South Korea.

Question

Hello, dear my teacher.

I'm Lim from South Korea.

This year 2024, there are many news reports about elections¹ all over the world. I see the word 'fake² news' in many articles, but I can't tell the difference between 'disinformation' and 'misinformation.' Could you explain exactly the difference showing different example expressions?

I always thank you.

Gyeonggyun Lim

Answer

Thank you for writing, Lim. This is a very good question.

Mis- and dis- are both common prefixes⁴ in English. Prefixes are letters we add to the beginning of a word. Each prefix³ has a meaning. Adding a prefix to a word makes a new word with a new meaning.

Let's start with mis- and misinformation.

Mis- means "bad" or "wrong." For example, add mis- to adventure and we get the new word misadventure. A misadventure is an unlucky event or a bad adventure or experience.

So, misinformation means "wrong or bad information." Misinformation often comes from someone misunderstanding something.

We often use misinformation with the phrase "a lot of."

For example:

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet.

Next let's look at disinformation. Dis- means "not" or "none." For example, if we add dis- to agree, the new word disagree means to "not agree."

It might seem like disinformation just means "not information." But its meaning is more complex than that. Disinformation means false information that is spread on purpose. A person, group, or government can spread disinformation. Their goal is to hide the truth or trick people.

We often use disinformation with the word campaign. For example:

I hope the disinformation campaign does not work.

Someone who spreads disinformation knows that the information is untrue. But when misinformation spreads, it is generally not done to deceive⁵, or trick, people.

We often use both misinformation and disinformation with the word spread. Note that "spread" can be a verb or a noun⁶.

For example,

The internet spreads a lot of misinformation.

The government should stop the spread of disinformation.

We hope this explanation has helped you, Lim.

1 elections   

n.选举，当选，推举( election的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• He emerged victorious in the elections. 他在竞选中脱颖而出获得胜利。

2 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

3 prefix   

n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面

参考例句：

• We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
• In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。

4 prefixes   

n.前缀( prefix的名词复数 )；人名前的称谓；前置代号（置于前面的单词或字母、数字）

参考例句：

• The prefixes cis and trans are frequently applied to disubstituted cycloalkanes. 词头顺和反常用于双取代的环烷烃。 来自辞典例句
• Why do you use so many prefixes while talking? 你说起话来，怎么这么多中缀？ 来自互联网

5 deceive   

vt.欺骗，使弄错；vi.行骗

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Don't try to deceive me.你别诳我。

6 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。