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   clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 22:05:52 JST clacke

   A person said something along the lines of egoism being destructive.

   An obnoxious commenter replied "look up definition of egoism vs. egotism", so I did.

   I thought they were synonyms, but turns out they're ... pretty much synonyms?

   Can anyone help me understand what Obnoxious Commenter might have meant? Why would the meaning of "egoism" undermine the message that short-sighted selfishness is destructive? but "egotism" would make it work?

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 01:23:49 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • MarkusL
     @markusl I don't care about the comment or commenter very much, but it got me curious about how people see these two words. My native Swedish only has one.
   • Embed this notice
     MarkusL (markusl@fosstodon.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 01:23:50 JST MarkusL

     in reply to

     @clacke According to Collins, the words don't quite mean the same thing to British people and American people:

     https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/egoism

     https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/egotism

     I wonder if your correspondent isn't on the same side of the Atlantic as you.

     In either case, the two words do look pretty similar! Honestly, I wouldn't waste too much time over a dictionary snipe, if that's the way it came across.

     clacke likes this.
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     Mans R (mansr@society.oftrolls.com)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 01:23:52 JST Mans R

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @markusl @clacke Looking at that and other dictionaries, it seems to me that both words have largely overlapping meanings, the main difference being the use of "egoism" in a philosophical sense. I think MW covers it most clearly: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egoism

     In the context of the OP, I doubt there would have been any significant change in meaning between the two.

     clacke likes this.
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     Neal Gompa (ニール・ゴンパ) :fedora: (conan_kudo@fosstodon.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 01:23:55 JST Neal Gompa (ニール・ゴンパ) :fedora:

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @markusl @clacke As an American English speaker, I tend to see `egoism` as the description of philosophy, while `egotism` as the expression of that. Hence, `egotist` for a person that concerns exclusively of bettering themselves for the sake of themselves. I know that `egoist` can also be used for this purpose and some people do, but I personally never heard it this way.

     clacke likes this.
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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 14:46:44 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • MarkusL
     • Steven Roose

     @stevenroose @markusl Oh right, that's a word too. In Swedish I would say an "egoist" is one who ruthlessly puts themself first to the detriment of everyone else, and an "egocentriker" is mostly someone who is lacking in empathy and talks about themself all the time.

     In English it seems that "egotist" has an overlap with the latter, but "egoist" doesn't.

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     Steven Roose (stevenroose@x0f.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 14:46:45 JST Steven Roose

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @clacke @markusl Yeah Dutch only has one too. Though we use egoist and egocentrist as different things. Or at least I do. I understand egoism a being more about actions one takes and egocentrist more about thoughts/views one holds.