[CR]re: sappy superlatives

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

From: "c. andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 18:03:32 -0700
Subject: [CR]re: sappy superlatives

Dale wrote:

"You said "truly unique" and that is conjecture on your part. While you "

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Boredom is really a terrible thing.

That said, I will, mildly, point out that the problem arises out of a misuse of the word *unique.*

This word is horribly abused, especially by pitchmen and women of all description, be they on ebay or elsewhere. Why? Because almost no-one seems to understand that the word *unique* is a superlative, thus, it *cannot* be modified any further.

So, for instance, had Frank used the word correctly, and simply said *unique* to describe the frame, likely none of this would have come up.

Let's all try to be gentle with *unique.* It's actually a very cool word, and works all by itself quite nicely.

Charles "amateur grammarian" Andrews SoCal

"It's impossible to make a man understand something when his livelihood depends on him not understanding it."

-Upton Sinclair