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Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:54 pm
by JAB Creations
I am trying to find a word with the definition of "unethical advantage" where one group benefits at the intentional loss of another. My English not have good enough....

Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:18 pm
by Christopher
In legal terms it would be acting in bad faith.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:42 pm
by JAB Creations
Ok a technical field example: Microsoft knows Vista won't fair well on the cheapo computers so it keeps XP around to deny Linux growth...so to intentionally benefit at another's loss. I'm looking for a single word definition versus a double-word term if possible.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:33 pm
by Chris Corbyn
Maybe something from here will lead you roughly in the right direction?
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/unfair
EDIT |
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/underhanded ?
underhanded
adjective
1. marked by deception; "achieved success in business only by underhand methods" [syn: sneaky]
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:54 pm
by JAB Creations
I've had some good suggestions but frankly I feel no single word thus far encompasses three key words put together...
benefit, intent, loss
I took some time to look up English to Latin to see if I could find the roots of these words to construct/coin one but I didn't find any worthwhile sources.
The goal is to have a word that clearly expresses a person/group that intentionally forces a loss to another group which they in turn benefit from. Using multiple words would water down the direct concept and I'm frankly surprised if such a word exists that it is not well known.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:08 pm
by Chris Corbyn
Underhanded seems to fit your requirements. Do you mind if I ask what this is for? I mean, is it something you need to be so hung up on?
Unscrupulous also seems to fit more or less.
If you can't find anything can you not just use multiple words?
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:23 pm
by JAB Creations
There are too many examples of groups and individuals with the very intent to benefit themselves at another's loss. I don't want to get in to any specific examples but there are plenty of examples in our industry (the internet).
I hate the subjectivity people use in their communications to deceive others through language so I try to be as mathematically cold and precise as I can. If you perceive what I wrote as what I originally intended then I have succeeded in sharing my thoughts which is precisely why when I speak of such topics that I use words by their literal definition.
For example someone mentioned deception at some point (I think it was when I was out to dinner earlier). However one person can deceive another simply to enjoy the act of being able to deceive which does not necessarily imply the deceived has suffered a loss at the deceptor's gain.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:25 am
by onion2k
JAB Creations wrote:Ok a technical field example: Microsoft knows Vista won't fair well on the cheapo computers so it keeps XP around to deny Linux growth...so to intentionally benefit at another's loss.
There's nothing unethical about that.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am
by John Cartwright
onion2k wrote:JAB Creations wrote:Ok a technical field example: Microsoft knows Vista won't fair well on the cheapo computers so it keeps XP around to deny Linux growth...so to intentionally benefit at another's loss.
There's nothing unethical about that.
I was going to say something, but what you have described is Competitive Advantage.. there is nothing unethical about growth in business, even if it entails loss for others. While it may suck... it's life.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:08 pm
by Christopher
onion2k wrote:There's nothing unethical about that.
Interesting response. Technically what you really mean is that there is nothing unethical about that to you. And probably that there may be noting illegal about it. But someone else might very well think it is unethical. And somewhere else (like the EU) it may be illegal as well.
We have been all been marketed the idea by Milton Friedman and many others that corporations should have the freedom to do many things. That does not necessarily mean those things are ethical. The powerful have spent much money to promote this idea that they should not be regulated. Unfortunately the un-powerful do not have the same resources to promote alternate ideas about what might or might not be ethical.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:57 pm
by s.dot
Monopoly comes to mind after mentioning any of the words mentioned above

Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:15 am
by Christopher
It is interesting that maybe 30 years ago, much of what Microsoft has done would have been considered unethical in the US. But a steady stream of "free market" governments since that time have forced a shift in the opinion of what is ethical. Certainly places like the EU have a different opinion of such behavior and have demanded changes not required in the US. The recent ISO OOXML vote is an example of how what many think of as brazenly unethical now appears to be unstoppable.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:13 am
by JAB Creations
For the topic it's non-technical so to be as vague as possible, group A somehow gets group B to do something that is self-destructive at all levels to gain from their losses.
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:10 pm
by JellyFish
Epicaricacy? Or schandenfreude (only schandenfreude isn't English).
Re: Word with the definition of "unethical advantage"?
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:46 pm
by Christopher
JellyFish wrote:(only schandenfreude isn't English).
We borrow a lot and have a proscriptive grammar, so native speakers determine whether cul-de-sac is in and schadenfreude isn't.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude