Language tips

Q:How can you decide when to add -est to an adjective instead of most? In an editorial I saw the expression “the loyalest supporter.” Should that be “the most loyal supporter”?

A:Yes, according to idiomatic English. However, if the journalist wanted to call attention to his peculiar usage, he might have abandoned idiom for that purpose. That's what Lewis Carroll's Alice did, when she used the comparative form “curiouser and curiouser.”

In English, most one-syllable adjectives add -est (or st) to create the superlative: “the greatest, the truest, the best, the worst.” Adjectives of more than one syllable add most to indicate the superlative: “the most eager, the most honest, the most passive.” There are some exceptions, however. Two-syllable adjectives that end in y change the y to i and add -est (“prettiest, silliest, laziest”). Adjectives that end in -le can either use the superlative most or add -st (“humblest, noblest”).

Some adjectives are called “absolute” be-cause they cannot logically be compared. For example, square, round, correct, perfect, complete, dead. But our forefathers made perfect a comparative adjective in the opening words of the Preamble to the Constitution: “in order to form a more perfect union,” perhaps for emphasis. And for emphasis dead becomes comparable, in the phrase “more dead than alive.”

In current usage, the addition of unnecessary emphasis has reduced the power of the formerly absolute adjective unique, which used to mean “one of a kind.” Because it has been so often preceded by the intensifier very or the comparative forms more and most, it has come to mean merely “unusual.” Our tendency to use hyperbole has also reduced the power of other formerly absolute adjectives. The adjective outstanding has so often merely expressed total agreement that it now indicates only enthusiasm. The adjectives fabulous and terrific have been similarly diluted. And, especially in the usage of young persons, the adjective favorite now has a superlative form, in the phrase my most favorite book

Although the noun priority is derived from the Latin adjective meaning “superior,” it no longer always indicates precedence, although that is its dictionary definition. Derived from the Latin adjective prior (“superior”), it has been weakened by the addition of adjectives: “first priority,” “absolute priority." Some time ago a reader wrote objecting to the word fuller, which he had heard describing a backswing in golf. He argued that full, like fatal could not be compared: something was either full or it wasn't. But one might respond that you can be “full” after dinner and still manage to enjoy a confection. So the decision is made by the person using the word, but one fact is sure: the more you prop-up a word the weaker it becomes.

Q:On nightly news reports I hear television journalists making what I believe is an ungrammatical statement. It goes like this: “The first thing the President did yesterday was, he talked about Katrina.”

A:I have been hearing that kind of statement recently. The traditional and still-conventional expression would be: “The first thing the President did yesterday was to talk about Katrina.” Even better would have been the less-redundant, “The first thing the President talked about yesterday was Katrina.”

Perhaps the best way to describe the journalist's statement is as “colloquial,” that is, acceptable in informal speech, but not in formal speech or in writing. Unfortunately, newscasters and other television journalists have become relaxed and unconcerned about their usage. If there were more Walter Cronkites reporting, we would have better models to follow.

Q:What is the meaning of the phrase as such? It seems to be used with little or no specific meaning.

A:Properly used, as such does have specific meanings, despite its use by some as a vague connector. It should always refer to a noun that precedes it (either a person or a thing) and it means either “as being the person or thing previously referred to,” or “ in that capacity” or “in or by itself or themselves.”

Here are illustrations of those meanings:

Q:What is the difference in meaning between a while and awhile?

A:The noun while, derived from Old English hwil, means “a period of time.” It also means “trouble or exertion,” as in, “It was worth the while.” The adverb awhile is derived from the same Old English root, but to indicate “for” the preposition on was added, and the phrase became on whil (“for a while”). That phrase subsequently became awhile, still with the meaning, “for a while,” and it exists with that meaning in modern English in a statement like, “He stopped awhile at the road sign.” So the most obvious difference is that while is a noun, and awhile an adverb, both indicate a period of time, but awhile indicates a shorter period.

A somewhat similar distinction occurs in some time and sometime. The former is a noun phrase meaning “a certain amount of time” He promised to do it some time next week.” But when the future time expressed is more vague, the two words are usually run together, as in, “He said he would do it sometime.” Or, “Let's get together sometime.”

And sometime has an additional meaning, not shared by some time. As an adjective it means “for a time,” as in, “He was a sometime representative from the Fifth District.” In that context it resembles the adverb awhile.

The way languages deal with time indicates the way its speakers view the world.

The adverb awhile is derived from the same Old English root, but to indicate “for” the preposition on was added, and the phrase became on whil (“for a while”). That phrase subsequently became awhile, still with the meaning, “for a while,” and it exists with that meaning in modern English in a statement like, “He stopped awhile at the road sign.” So the most obvious difference is that while is a noun, and awhile an adverb, both indicate a period of time, but awhile indicates a shorter period.

A somewhat similar distinction occurs in some time and sometime. The former is a noun phrase meaning “a certain amount of time” He promised to do it some time next week.” But when the future time expressed is more vague, the two words are usually run together, as in, “He said he would do it sometime.” Or, “Let's get together sometime.”

And sometime has an additional meaning, not shared by some time. As an adjective it means “for a time,” as in, “He was a sometime representative from the Fifth District.” In that context it resembles the adverb awhile.

The way languages deal with time indicates the way its speakers view the world.

Gertrude Block is Lecturer Emerita at the University of Florida College of Law. Her book ,”Legal Writing Advice: Questions and Answers” (William S. Hein & Co., Inc.) was published in December 2004. Ms. Block is also author of “Effective Legal Writing”, 5th Edition (Foundation Press), with an accompanying instructor's manual. She is co-author of the “Judicial Opinion Writing Manual” (published by the American Bar Association, 1991). Send questions to the ISBA Bar News – Language Tips, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Bar Center, Springfield, IL 62701, or e-mail her at block@law.ufl.edu.