Let's face it. English is too damn
demanding. We have to spell words, use commas and full
stops, and then decide how many exclamation marks to use at the end of
something remarkable!! And then that's not all. Nowadays we're
having to contend with… with…
double superlatives! "Say what?" You ask, your tone
aghast and your face warped with shock. Precisely.
Let's be clear. Saying things like
"more nicer" and "more stronger" don't make any sense. But not saying them is yet
another cumbersome task for the burden of speechcraft. All these
regulations - it's hard enough as is not to break the law without worrying
about the rules of… how do I say it… language! Well, worry no more. For I offer you the most
moral code of moral codes: if you really don't want to give something up, justify
it!1 After all, if you can't beat'em, join'em.
The phrase "more better",
along with all its variations, has become widely used in today's declin- I mean
Western society. It probably stems from the fact that some words allow you to
attach "er" to the end, like 'cuter', 'smoother' and 'funnerer', while
others don't, like 'satisfied-er' and 'beautiful-er'. In the case of the latter
two, one should say "more satisfied" or "more beautiful". Halt! All of a sudden we have two different utensils for the exact same piece of pie, and only one of them ever serves as proper etiquette. It's only natural, therefore, that they
sometimes get mismatched, or we simply become too accustomed to our spoon of choice.
1) They don't make sense.
2) They sound retarded. The 'er' in
"better" does the same job as the word 'more' preceding it. Forsooth, they mean exactly the same thing and do exactly the same job. Thus, if you say
something like, "My new job is a lot more better," it's like saying,
"My new job is a lot betterer," or, "My new job is a lot more
more bett," to either of which I'd ask, "Who hired you?"
But this phrase, which simply
leaves the word 'more' completely and utterly redundant, has been ingrained
into your minds like the alphabet. Like how one plus one is two and not, in fact, sixty-five. It's part of the basics, and cannot be simply erased without you questioning the authenticity of your very own childhood. Fortunately there is no such need to wipe
your memory. At least not yet.
It should be noted that I'm a man who doesn't
just complain, but comes up with solutions as well. In fact, I can think of an
entire one reason that completely justifies the use of 'more better'. Take Bobbery, for instance. Bobbery broke his leg last Sunday. It's now Tuesday. Life sucks because
he's maimed and can't do much. But he can still talk - and his mouth is now his
only remaining source of dignity. Screw that up, and he might as well be a
fish.
Sarmeena, one of his good friends, pops in for a visit. "How's the leg?" she asks.
Sarmeena, one of his good friends, pops in for a visit. "How's the leg?" she asks.
"Well," Bobbery begins,
"it's more better than it was yesterday."
"Uh, what did you just
say?" she says, her tone aghast and her face warped with shock. Rightfully
so.
"Sarmeena, I can
explain."
"I'm listening," she
concedes, proving her loyalty as a friend through thick and thin.
Bobbery takes a deep breath.
"You see, yesterday I was feeling a bit better than Sunday; but today I'm
feeling much better than yesterday."
"So?" Hostility is creeping into her tone now.
"So, the amount by which I
feel better today in relation to yesterday is greater than that which I felt
yesterday with regards to the day before."
The ensuing silence is awkward, and Bobbery senses that the threads of their friendship are wearing thin and farther between. Much to his relief, she simply laughs and flicks her hair. "Oh, why didn't you just say so?" And she proceeds to share her
chocolate with him, chocolate that she was about to keep to
herself. It's berry and biscuit.
So what did Bobbery mean, exactly? Simple. The improvement
in Bobbery's health between Monday and Tuesday was greater than the improvement
between Sunday and Monday. Thus, he feels more better today than he did yesterday. So long as this explanation can apply to your uses of the term 'more better' or any of its variants, you will be able to defend ridicule, embarrassment and the Facebook-approved certainty of your friendships.2 You can thank me laterer.
------------------------------
1. Sarcasm
2. This justification actually
holds no water at all. "More better" still sounds retarded because
Bobbery could (and should) have instead said, "even better," or, "better yet". Fortunately you probably didn't read this far.
i read that far...
ReplyDeleteNooooo!
DeleteRita didn't miss the last footnote, but did Bobbery? Probbery.
ReplyDeleteSo, in your explanation of acceptable instances of adding 'er' to words, you use 'funnerer' as an example. Are you therefore implying that 'funner' in itself is a word?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Urban Dictionary, which I don't normally cite, but in this case I'll make an exception, the definition reads:
Funner. The dumb person's way of saying 'more fun'.
Last week I was trying to help my English class understand that 'funner' and 'funnest' are not 'real' words, even though they are in common usage. You can use them verbally and to help with a certain colloquial style in creative writing, but never in a formal essay. Good times :P
Hey Hannah,
DeleteTo answer your question, no. I am not implying that 'funner' is a word. I do, however, expect readers to be clever enough to know this for themselves without me having to explain, and thus give credit to such readers whom I believe have the capacity to notice the irony and/or sarcasm in these cases. My intention isn't always so much to educate the grammatically-challenged as it is to reinforce the grammatically-savvy. I take you to be one of the latter.
Of course, no one's perfect, so I appreciate you taking the time to clarify what I did, in fact, intend in that section of the blog. :)
Oh, and by "no one's perfect", I was replying to myself, not you! Haha.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm not taking grammar advice from anyone who names their fictional character "Bobbery".
ReplyDelete