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HUBLOT Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Caring individual

http://www.designs4health.com/testimonials.html
She is a caring individual, devoted to her field, mainly for the benefit of others.

Does the "individual" here mean "(informal, usually disapproving) a person of a particular type, especially a strange one"? Doesn't caring individual sound awkward to you? I'm wondering if a caring individual isn't a strange one.
  

Top answer

No. I don't know where you got that definition, but I think that "strange" is not part of it. This "individual" is not the definition you cite, but a neutral one, perhaps too neutral.

— Enoon

  • No.
  • I don't know where you got that definition, but I think that "strange" is not part of it.
  • This "individual" is not the definition you cite, but a neutral one, perhaps too neutral.
  • Some people like to put those two words together, "caring individual", unthinkingly, meaning nothing more or less than "caring person"—a person who cares about other people.
  • The American Heritage Dictionary has a usage note under "individual" that explains the objection some of us have to using the word to mean "person".
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2 Answers
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No. I don't know where you got that definition, but I think that "strange" is not part of it. This "individual" is not the definition you cite, but a neutral one, perhaps too neutral. Some people like to put those two words together, "caring individual", unthinkingly, meaning nothing more or less than "caring person"—a person who cares about other people.

The American Heritage Dictionary
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HUBLOThttp://www.designs4health.com/testimonials.html She is a caring individual, devoted to her field, mainly for the benefit of others.Does the "individual" here mean "(informal, usually disapproving) a person of a particular type, especially a strange one"? Doesn't caring indiv
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