DarrenBarefoot.com

Counterfeit?

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/not%20genuine

[Reply]

Bernie: Yeah, I mean the other meaning of genuine, as ‘truthful’.

Gar: I thought of that, but I think it means something else:

ingenuous adj
1. innocent and unworldly: showing innocence and a lack of worldly experience
2. seeming honest: appearing honest and direct

[Reply]

It’s all about perseverance. Use the word enough and you’ll get others using it. Get enough others using it and poof, it becomes a word. Magic.

[Reply]

I’m with Todd on this one. New words are created all the time and if enough people use it, it becomes the norm. The internet has simply accelerated this process.

And for the record, I’d counter a genuine person with a “dishonest” person… or even just “a fake.”

[Reply]

Erin McKean, editor of the US Version of the Oxford University Dictionary feels the same as Todd and Michael. She has a project - the dictionary evangelist (http://www.dictionaryevangelist.com/) where she discusses the nature of dictionaries and moving them from static books to living organisms.

I have a short post about her and a link to her Google talk at http://mynameiskate.typepad.com/at_home/2007/03/something_i_lea.html

[Reply]

Unreal, I’d say.

[Reply]

Kerry Anne: Heh. You’ll just have to wait and see.

[Reply]

i’m a fan of “not genuine” myself. sure, it’s two words, but it means what you want it too!

still, i like the way the non-word “ingenuine” sounds out loud, though. there’s something about those repeating n sounds that is great.

[Reply]

I’d second disingenuous.

[Reply]

It tends to make me think of “ingenious”
Etymology: Middle English ingenyous, from Middle French ingenieus, from Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium natural capacity
1 obsolete : showing or calling for intelligence, aptitude, or discernment
2 : marked by especial aptitude at discovering, inventing, or contriving
3 : marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution

or “ingenue”
Etymology: French ingénue, feminine of ingénu ingenuous, from Latin ingenuus
1 : a naive girl or young woman
2 : the stage role of an ingenue; also : an actress playing such a role

But the word you are looking for is “fake” or “false”. Very old words. Or you could go with “phony”, “deceptive”, “fraudulent”, “counterfeit”, “insincere”, and “hypocritical”.

I was going to say “imaginary” or “fanciful”, but that doesn’t seem to be how you are using it.

[Reply]

Surely if we all rallied together to become some sort of cyber angry mob we could create the motion required to have it inducted into the next edition of Websters.

And why stop there?

“Ingenuine” Square on Hollywood Boulevard anyone?

[Reply]

Damn. There I was, writing a fluffy answer to a silly required bit of coursework, hoping to sound mildly articulate when I almost used a word that only exists in the dreams of 19,000 other people. Thank you for helping me save face, Darren. And please, don’t take my gratitude as ingenuine.

[Reply]

Well languages are one of those things that’s currently changing…so the fact that you and 19000 other people online use the word, suggests something :P Plus it sounds right! Now we just need a famous author to use the word so a dictionary can use the reference XD

[Reply]

Damn!! I just googled Ingenuine due to a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t truly a word, as even in the text message that it was to be placed in, I’m anal enough to care… Oh well, at least I got a laugh out of learning that I too, have been using a non-word for many many years. Thanks Darren!

[Reply]

facepalm.jpg at most of the people above.
CONTROLLED LANGUAGE USAGE.
I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY.
But seriously, masturbating over words is retarded. Learn a couple more unrelated languages, like Russian and Japanese and go chat in *chans 4 sum taim. This will enlighten you A LOT. Khxbye.

[Reply]

I block Ashley’s metaphorical punch for my use of a perfectly existent word like disingenuous, which any search of dictionary.com or google will show has multiple sensible entries. A disingenuous person lacks candor, lies and dissembles.

But I admit that I found this page while looking for an antonym for ‘genuine,’ other than, ‘not genuine.’ Not-genuine sounds so anticlimactic. “I thought this was a genuine Rembrandt, but it turns out it’s…not genuine!” :-) Some philosophers have been using nongenuine, I notice, so maybe it’ll catch on as a word.

[Reply]

It would seem that ingenuous is a similar word to genuine, except that ingenuous only applies to people and not things.

The opposite of ingenous is disingenous.

The opposite of genuine with regard to objects is probably counterfeit.

The opposite of genuine with regard to people can be seen as disingenous also, since that’s really the closest we have.

One could argue that if language was more scientific, genuine would only apply to things and ingenuous would only apply to people. But as others have said, language is a fluid thing. Ingenuine could well prove to be the way forward.

[Reply]

I’m aghast. Maybe ‘aghast’ isn’t even a word.
How can this invaluable word not be a word when 75% of the words in the dictionary are unknown to the layman, yet a ten-year old would understand ‘ingenuine’

[Reply]

Hi Darren,

I think it should be a word. I only just found it wasnt when I used it in the office and it caused a big stir! Im going to use it every opportunity I get now!! One day we will get it there!
Keep fighting :o)

[Reply]

rafael jordan Reply:
January 14th, 2009 at 5:06 am

lol… i believe the word you’re looking for (the antonym to genuine) is ‘disingenuous’.

[Reply]

So, I was just trying to figure out what the antonym for genuine is…and I stumbled upon this blog. I feel like I’ve heard “ingenuine” said, but somehow I was a little iffy, so I looked up genuine, then the antonyms, and my doubt was confirmed…..no ingenuine, not even an ungenuine. None of genuine’s antonyms sound as good or make as much sense as ingenuine. Can we make this a real word? And I like your phonetic alphabet use. Very funny.

[Reply]

The correct antonym of genuine is “disgenuine.”

[Reply]