The old grammar rule we all obey without realising | The Guardian
The rule is that multiple adjectives are always ranked accordingly: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose. Unlike many laws of grammar or syntax, this one is virtually inviolable, even in informal speech. You simply can’t say My Greek Fat Big Wedding, or leather walking brown boots. And yet until last week, I had no idea such a rule existed.
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An O mark, known as marujirushi (丸印) or maru (丸) in Japan and gongpyo (공표(空標), ball mark) in Korea, is the name of the symbol “◯”, a circle or used to represent affirmation in East Asia, similar to its Western equivalent of the checkmark (“✓”). Its opposite is the X mark (“✗” or “×”).
Bosh bash bish
In a piece for the BBC, The Elements of Eloquence author Mark Forsyth examines a rare exception to the adjectival hierarchy: the Big Bad Wolf. Bad is opinion, and should therefore come first. However, as Forsyth points out, this phrase is too busy obeying another rule I’d never heard of: the rule of ablaut reduplication.
Other examples of the rule in action include chit-chat, singsong, flipflop and hip-hop. When you shift vowel sounds for effect this way, the vowels always follow a specific order: I, then A, then O. You’d think it was more complicated, that it depended on mood or context, but no, it’s that simple – bosh bash bish.
I don’t speak my own backward pig-dog language.
Pig Ball Poop
Balls is the noun, Pig is the origin, Poop is the material. I->A->O applies to the description - [pig poop] - and the order of adjectives applies the same.
It would sound fucking ridiculous - just utterly absurd - if we were to say poop pig balls.
◯
That’s an adult red large son
Unlike many laws of grammar or syntax, this one is virtually inviolable
I got a big ol’ exception
What is the exception
fuck
big ol’
size age exception
This is true for most grammar rules in most languages tbh.
I just let ChatGPT write my adjectives
The big bad wolf would like a word
Aside from ablaut reduplication, you could argue that bad is less of an opinion and more of an objective fact. Maybe falling under purpose, like his purpose is to do bad?
There’s a competing vowel-ordering rule for consecutive short words, called ablaut reduplication, which can override the adjective order.
This is a general case but not true universally. When one trait is most vital or under debate it will go first , and when another is key to the identity of the object generally, it goes next to it. Although potato is not often included when describing French fries, it will preceed the adjective French on account of the vital nature of the French cut to the fries, and the material less important although assumed to be potato. For the prior, an orange big cat is easier to distinguish from any bug cat than a big orange cat, and if one asks for a round wheel, you may specify a rubber round wheel to ask if that is what they want.
english must be a nightmare to learn
i read that 3 times thinking you are an idiot because of course I can say “My big fat Greek wedding”… then it hit me
