Today's Lesson - Order of adjectives

[packman]

You may not know, but foreign students trying to learn "English" are expected to learn the order of adjectives (which I didn't know existed)



More on this at:

https://qz.com/773738/how-non-english-speakers-are-taught-this-crazy-english-grammar-rule-you-know-but-youve-never-heard-of/

[eppur_se_muova]

1. I've always been confused by a business sign advertising "Magic Used Tires" ...

It makes me think their tires are somehow the product of used magic, which I trust even less than regular magic.

I note that "Colorless green thoughts sleep furiously" complies with the rule, since "colorless" and "green" are both colors. That doesn't help it make any more (or less) sense, though.

[unblock]

2. It's really not an "odd thing" that people follow a rule without being able to articulate it

Particularly when it comes to a first language.

[3catwoman3]

3. This is fascinating.

I freely admit to being something of a proper usage nerd, and I have never even heard of this. I am 67, so went to public school when things like diagramming sentences were still taught. And I read books on vacabulary and grammar just for fun.

[CanSocDem]

5. It's a "tool" used to convey information...

...so what you're suggesting is that only "small minds" care about information. Is that correct? It certainly explains the notorious 'low information' voter that equates medical insurance with health care, guns everywhere with public safety, and wealth with power.

And, surprisingly, it's because as a nation, you've lost the ability to see through the bullshit. You are essentially illiterate.

.

[Jim Lane]

7. The example about the dragons was important to Tolkien, who became a philologist

As a child, he wrote a story about a "green great dragon", and showed it to his mother. He later recounted:

"I remember nothing about it except a philological fact. My mother said nothing about the dragon, but pointed out that one could not say 'a green great dragon', but had to say 'a great green dragon'. I wondered why, and still do. The fact that I remember this is possibly significant, as I do not think I ever tried to write a story again for many years, and was taken up with language."

(source)