3

As it came in the sentence:

Internally focused and at the same time disseminated, they’re inclined to unexpected contrasts of behavior where shyness and apathy are replaced by emotional elevation, determination and activity, a melancholic look - or inspired/joyful.

What does it mean for a person to be disseminated?

resource: http://www.the16types.info/vbulletin/content.php/14-Type-and-subtype-descriptions-Meged-Ovcharov

14
  • Can you specify what you're looking for?
    – Centaurus
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:02
  • I couldn't really guess what does it mean to say that a person is "disseminated"..
    – Hiba22
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:07
  • @Hiba22 And your question is?
    – A.P.
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:08
  • 2
    The above passage would not seem to me to have been written by a native speaker.
    – WS2
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:11
  • 6
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about a non-standard usage by a non-native speaker Oct 28, 2015 at 13:15

2 Answers 2

2

The intended meaning here is absent-minded. The word provides contrast to "focused", as you can see in context:

Internally focused and at the same time disseminated

This is just a poor translation.

(Russian source)

The confusion comes from the fact that the Russian verb rasseivat (рассеивать) could be translated to scatter or to disseminate. But a "rasseyanny" person (рассеянный, same root) should be absent-minded or forgetful.

The translator went with disseminated instead.

There's a similar relationship between to scatter and scatterbrain in English as well.


Edit: I understand not everyone can read Russian, but for what it's worth here's a screenshot from Google's built-in service. I've highlighted the relevant parts:

enter image description here

The screenshot demonstrates that disseminated and absent-minded can both be legitimate translations of the same Russian word рассеянный (rasseyanny).

16
  • I don't think any word/phrase in the context indicates the word provids contrast to "focused".
    – user140086
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:29
  • "At the same time" should be "but at the same time". "The person is focused, but at the same time X" -- that's what I meant by contrast.
    – A.P.
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:33
  • You should not attempt to read the author/translator or whatever 's mind. There's got to be reason why the word was chosen by him and we never know. You are merely speculating for a soon-to-be closed off-topic question.
    – user140086
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:36
  • 1
    I'm not speculating, I can read Russian very well, and I looked up the source. This is a textbook example of a translator's error. That's the reason.
    – A.P.
    Oct 28, 2015 at 13:40
  • 1
    I think bad translations are Off Topic, so the question should be closed. But this seems to be unquestionably the correct answer, and it would be too long to fit into a comment, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to post it as an answer. Anyway, I've upvoted the answer because I think it's right, and if I could I'd upvote it again purely for the point about scatterbrained. I'm tempted to think it's the same basic figurative sense as wooly-minded, contrasting with sharp-witted, concentration, letting one's mind wander, etc. (all in one place/spread out | focused/vague). Oct 28, 2015 at 14:07
0

This usage falls into the english language usage category of a "malapropism." In this instance it does seem to have occurred due to a translation issue, but malapropisms are often used for humor as well.

The word "malapropism" originates from the stage play "Arsenic and Old Lace", in which a character, Mrs. Malaprop, used words that were incorrect but close enough in sound to be recognizable for what word was intended, to great comedic effect.

After 2001, these are also referred to as "Bushisms" due to the alarming frequency of their occurrence in President Bush's spoken language.

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