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- Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
- Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!sgiblab!sdd.hp.com!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!news.iastate.edu!IASTATE.EDU!mcoffin
- From: mcoffin@IASTATE.EDU (Marie Coffin)
- Subject: Re: Unique hypothesis--comments welcome!
- Message-ID: <1992Nov18.132104@IASTATE.EDU>
- Sender: news@news.iastate.edu (USENET News System)
- Reply-To: mcoffin@IASTATE.EDU (Marie Coffin)
- Organization: Iowa State University
- References: <1992Nov17.224011.20690@Princeton.EDU> <28342@castle.ed.ac.uk>
- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 19:21:04 GMT
- Lines: 35
-
- In article <28342@castle.ed.ac.uk>, wex@castle.ed.ac.uk (John Wexler) writes:
- > I have little use for the word "unique". Nevertheless, I think I
- > understand its meaning, and I might use it from time to time.
- >
- > If it meant "unparalleled in every respect, among all the things that
- > exist or have ever existed in the whole universe" then I would never be
- > able to apply it to anything. I therefore suggest that the word can
- > reasonably be used to mean "unparalleled in certain important respects,
- > in some domain of interest".
- >
- > If you accept that, then I can argue that if thing X is unparalleled in
- > more respects than thing Y, then X is more unique than Y.
- >
- [...example deleted...]
-
- John, we had this entire discussion on a.u.e only a few months ago. The
- argument you have just given was hauled out then, and I disagreed with it.
- I still disagree with it.
-
- You will not find in any dictionary the suggestion that unique means
- "unparalleled in every respect". I don't think anyone on this newsgroup
- has even suggested that. In most dictionaries you will find a definition
- of "unique" that looks something like "applicable only to what is, in some
- respect, the sole existing specimen". I took that quote from Fowler's
- _Modern English Usage_ because I admire his way with words.
-
- Using that definition, your usage of "more unique" to mean something like
- "unparalleled in more respects" cannot be justified. I don't think your
- usage can be justified by the common meaning of the word "more" either.
- For example, we don't say that one antibiotic is more effective than
- another if we really mean that it is effective against more different kinds
- of bacteria. If you want to say "unique in more respects", then say it.
-
-
- Marie Coffin
-