English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

[Jdsk]

...
"Least worst" nearly always just means "least bad".

Thanks again for that observation.

Both mean "best of available options", a relative ranking, but also that it's poor on an absolute scale, as otherwise you'd just use "best".

So I've been asking people which suggests being lower on that absolute scale. I can't detect any consensus.

Jonathan

[Bmblbzzz]

That said, in the torrid circumstances created by the falls of Johnson and Truss, Sunak is definitely the least-worse choice available.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-minister

It is the Grauniad so it might just be a typo – except I've definitely seen and certainly heard this option elsewhere. It might even be a form of hypercorrection; the worse, not the worst, of two options (in this case Sunak or Truss).

[Audax67]

Anyone for best bad, or doesn't it sound badder enough?

For me, you can't legitimately use worse without than since it's a comparative, so least worse is senseless. Similarly, worst is an absolute and therefore not susceptible to qualification.

As to least-worse cropping up in the Graun, I wouldn't be surprised if it were a typo but equally I wouldn't be surprised were it not.

Now then, how about a learned discussion of were and was wrt conditionals and subjunctives?

Or maybe we could just kick now then about for a bit and teach it a lesson.

[Bmblbzzz]

Worse is a comparative and therefore should, if we follow the rules of what people call "prescriptive grammar", be used in cases where only two things are being considered. It doesn't require than. "Measles and chicken pox are both bad, but measles is worse." In practice, very few people use it that way.

[Audax67]

Worse is a comparative and therefore should, if we follow the rules of what people call "prescriptive grammar", be used in cases where only two things are being considered. It doesn't require than. "Measles and chicken pox are both bad, but measles is worse." In practice, very few people use it that way.

True. A perfect example of L's Conjecture, i.e. that he who pontificates about grammar will inevitably make a grammatical mistake in his next post. Which I done.

[Cowsham]

Worse is a comparative and therefore should, if we follow the rules of what people call "prescriptive grammar", be used in cases where only two things are being considered. It doesn't require than. "Measles and chicken pox are both bad, but measles is worse." In practice, very few people use it that way.

" Measles is worser than chicken pox " or should that be " measles are worser than chicken pox "

[DaveReading]

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are all bad, but measles is worse than the others

[Mick F]

Talking of "worse than others" and English language ................. and Radio 4 Today programme ......................

Amol Rajan talks way too fast, and says A when he means a , and stresses his words and sentences totally wrongly. He speaks as if he's reading a list. Main problem is that he talks way too quickly.

Shut up!

[Bmblbzzz]

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are all bad, but measles is worse than the others

There's a word that was made to confuse!

[Chris Jeggo]

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are all bad, but measles is worse than the others

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are all worse than a cold.
Which one is least worse?

[Dingdong]

"Cruise Missile", it sounds so inocuous!

[Dingdong]

Measles, chicken pox, mumps and whooping cough are all bad, but measles is worse than the others

There's a word that was made to confuse!

When I was a lad it was always pronounced 'Hooping cough'!

[richardfm]

"Variety of different". No, just "variety".
"personally, I think". No, just "I think".

I apologise if these have been said before, but it is a very long thread and I haven't read all of it.

[axel_knutt]

Amol Rajan talks way too fast, and says A when he means a , and stresses his words and sentences totally wrongly. He speaks as if he's reading a list. Main problem is that he talks way too quickly.

The one that..........irritates me is Ros...........Atkins who speaks..........two or three...........words at a...........time with pauses................in between.

[axel_knutt]

How on earth do they get to call it a pudding!

Have a read at Wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pudding

"Pudding is a type of food that can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish that is part of the main meal.........Savoury puddings include Yorkshire pudding,"

Yorkshire Pudding isn't a dessert or a main meal, it's a starter.