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Uh...once it is agreed that "worse" can be modified by number then it semantically sound to modify that grouping by degrees of "worse". As in...

The three worst teams in the NFL are the Bears, the Giants, and the Jets. And the worst of these are the Jets.

(Of course they are not. But it is linguistically correct to say so.)



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Dear Milo: "The three worst " Go way back and sit down.

Of course, if a group of sports writers each picked the team they thought was the worst,
they might well choose three different teams. Then you would have three "worst" teams.
But only one choice could be correct.


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"This is worst of all worst worsts! that hell could have devis'd." - Ben Jonson, Epicoene: or the silent woman


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So you're saying that it would be incorrect to say: "That's one of the worst books I've ever read."?


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"But what is worst of worsts, (Lord) often I Have cry'd to Thee, a stranger to my cry." - Francis Quarles, Job Militant



#86898 11/16/02 06:34 PM
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..three actors. One is worst at remembering his lines, another is worst at speaking clearly while the third is worst at understanding the character...

You can't compare apples and oranges and have a valid comparison. If one actor is worst in one dimension and the others are deficient in other ways, which you should choose depends on your relative weighting of the parameters.

Going back to the original query: when all three choices are bad, one takes the least bad, acknowleging it perhaps to be the best of a sorry lot. "Least worst" could be given in mock innocence: humorous and childlike language used to emphasize a point with cuteness. But not grammatically accurate, as Bill was the first to point out.

Edit: Guess I should have read to the end of the thread before replying ! My points have already been expressed.

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armed robbery would definitely be the least worst of the three

But you wouldn't describe it in those terms, would you? You'd use a term that could be qualified:

Armed robbery is the least heinous of the three.

Then there's Jazzo's question about "That's one of the worst books I've ever read." I reckon that's all right, because in that sentence, you're talking about a grouping; the book to which you refer is one of a group of the worst. Within the group of books which you consider to be the worst you've ever read, there must be one that is more, ahem, heinous than the rest. That would be the worst book you'd ever read, because it was worse than all the bad ones. It would also be one of the worst books you'd ever read.


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Within the group of books which I consider to be the worst I've ever read, there is a pessimal one.

(just to introduce a new word - from L. pessimus (worst), after optimal)


#86901 11/16/02 07:03 PM
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Only because worstly hasn't been mentioned, and it seems to need to be here...worstly speaking.

And, worstly, we have the worst of the three worse...which is a lot more worse than the other two. So the other two have to be least worst..or, at least, least worse.

(Why do I suddenly feel like I'm caught up in R. D. Laing's Knots here? )


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Ah ha Mister Bill! Now we are cooking. This is your grand chance. Find that bunch of God appointed authorities that make up the rules for the usage of the English language. These faceless cowards have hidden in their towers for far too long, while we, the common speakers, argue back and forth in our ignorance. Ferret them out, Brother Bill, bring them before us by name. No more will we be uncertain of the words we say. Their time of secrecy has caused us much grief. Find that secret URL site. They are unique. They are the best. They are all things superlative.

(And I bet they are all prissy Frenchmen.)


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