Misinformation is wrong or inaccurate information. It is distinguished from disinformation by motive. Misinformation is simply erroneous. Disinformation, in contrast, is intended to mislead.[1] Makkai[2] proposes the distinction between misinformation and disinformation to be a defining characteristic of idioms in the English language. An utterance is only idiomatic if it involves disinformation, where the listener can decode the utterance in a logical, and lexically correct, yet erroneous way. Where the listener simply decodes the lexemes incorrectly, the utterance is simply misinformation, and not idiomatic.
References
- ^ Francois Nel (2005). Writing for the Media in Southern Africa. Oxford University Press, 57. ISBN 0195784146.
- ^ Adam Makkai (1970). "Statistical Aspects of Phrasal Verb Idioms in Modern English". Proceedings of the Xth international congress of linguists, Bucharest, 1967: 969–972.
Futher reading
- Christopher Murphy (2005). Competitive Intelligence: Gathering, Analysing And Putting It to Work. Gower Publishing, Ltd., 186–189. ISBN 0566085372. — a case study of misinformation arising from simple error
- Martin C. Libicki (2007). "Misinformation and disinformation", Conquest in Cyberspace: National Security and Information Warfare. Cambridge University Press, 51ff. ISBN 0521871603.
- Jürg Strässler (1982). Idioms in English: A Pragmatic Analysis. Gunter Narr Verlag, 43–44. ISBN 3878089716.
