{link » Huge Impact Crater Uncovered in Canadian Forest}
In the quoted excerpt from the NatGeo article, one of the two uses of the adverb "quite" is ungrammatical in the strict sense, because one wouldn't want to say, "quite the only one". The adjective "unique" is intrinsically superlative. Adverbial modification of a superlative makes no sense, though I am aware of the ongoing controversy about the broadening of application with popular usage beyond the original meaning of the word "unique". Indeed, my criticism addresses such so-called "popular usage".
Where's the outrage in the Western world? When was the last time you were truly shocked to see something in a movie? Or to learn of some hideous crime in, from, or by the news media? A forceful or malicious verbal attack was termed a "hatchet job" in 1944 to convey a sense of outrage through bloody imagery. But today, it wouldn't get a rise out of Lizzie Borden's parents. Outrage has gone the way of nuance through de-sensitization from popular over-reliance on extrema. We have black and white. But shades of gray have disappeared.
“‘That told us right away that we are dealing with something quite interesting and quite unique,’ he said.” — National Geographic NewsVery interesting story about that huge impact crater, but that is not the focus of my comments. My purpose here is to lament the disappearance of nuance. In discourse. And practically in every other activity.
In the quoted excerpt from the NatGeo article, one of the two uses of the adverb "quite" is ungrammatical in the strict sense, because one wouldn't want to say, "quite the only one". The adjective "unique" is intrinsically superlative. Adverbial modification of a superlative makes no sense, though I am aware of the ongoing controversy about the broadening of application with popular usage beyond the original meaning of the word "unique". Indeed, my criticism addresses such so-called "popular usage".
Where's the outrage in the Western world? When was the last time you were truly shocked to see something in a movie? Or to learn of some hideous crime in, from, or by the news media? A forceful or malicious verbal attack was termed a "hatchet job" in 1944 to convey a sense of outrage through bloody imagery. But today, it wouldn't get a rise out of Lizzie Borden's parents. Outrage has gone the way of nuance through de-sensitization from popular over-reliance on extrema. We have black and white. But shades of gray have disappeared.
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