08.25.08
How to vary unique
The word unique is sacred. Inviolate. Untouchable by human beings. Let us worship it in its perfect splendor! Perfection cannot be modified!
Well, so goes the chant of the persnickitors. If you want to see a spray of blood popping from foreheads not unlike the famed Bellagio fountain display, just announce aloud that something is “very unique” in just about any public place. “Every English or journalism major knows the word ‘unique’ does not take a modifier!” Which is something I didn’t make up, but quoted directly from a blog, inserting the exclamation point because I knew the blogger really wanted to use one, so I’ll take the blame.
Of course, this proscription is bull (read the title of this blog again). What if I say something is “almost” unique? It’s pretty distinctive, but it does share characteristics with another instance of same. Has not unique been modified? You can say “I almost won the game” even when I actually lost, so why can’t something fail to be one-of-a-kind? Or how about “remarkably unique,” “fascinatingly unique,” “preposterously unique,” “strangely unique,” “etceterally unique.” Modifications all. In fact, the little forehead-popping that I quoted above (assisting gallantly by my offered exclamation point) was inspired by a headline reading, “A truly unique collection.” This construction violates neither logic nor grammar, and not even what “every English or journalism major knows.” Consider this concocted extension of that quote: “This truly unique collection, as opposed to collections that previously laid false claim to being unique . .”
At worst, truly in my modification is redundant, in that the “as opposed to” phrase demonstrates contrast, so “A unique collection as opposed to . . .” Even so, truly serves as clarifier and intensifier.
What our persnickitor is objecting to is not modification but a specific type of modification—establishing degree of uniqueness. The cliche analogy, of course, is “Unique is or it isn’t, just like you can’t be a little pregnant.” On the other hand, how often do you hear the acceptable hyperbole that someone is very pregnant—that is, she is far along in her pregnancy, possibly about to go into labor at any moment, and . . . look at that . . . time for the cigars. Sure, “very pregnant” isn’t precise; what hyperbole is?
And with that, I’ll sign off (very off), because I don’t want to beat the subject until it’s morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably, and reliably, not merely, really most sincerely dead.
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Jeff said,
September 16, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Thanks for the info. Someone just tried to correct me saying that something either is or isn’t unique, it can’t be “pretty unique”. Before reading this article, I read another article at http://www.alphadictionary.com that says:
“First, the claim that absolute adjectives cannot be compared or intensified is itself a misstatement of the grammatical facts. Most of us say “more infinite”, “very complete”, “pretty unique” all the time. Are all but the prescriptive grammarians and their dupes wrong in their use of absolute adjectives?
Of course not. The absolute adjective rule is a logical, not a grammatical rule. If the universe is either infinite or not, it makes no logical sense to say more infinite. However, grammar plays on that fact. Since we know this is logically true, we are allowed to use expressions like this since the hearer will know that more infinite cannot mean “more infinite”. The closest interpretation of this phrase is “more nearly infinite”—and this is precisely the interpretation we assign to such expressions. More complete means “more nearly complete”, “more dead” means “more nearly dead”, and so on.”
Saying something like “pretty unique” is a way of compressing a larger description of something. I like to relate it to a compressed computer file. A computer program is coded one way but it can be compressed into a smaller file to save storage space by strategically removing and changing small snippets of code. The program is kept in tact during storage even though it doesn’t actually contain all of the code required to make the program function properly.
My point is this: someone that says “pretty unique” is basically compressing a larger description or statement of some thing for transport (communication) knowing that the person receiving it will be able interpret the compressed description automatically. This is usually done on the subconscious level.
Bottom Line? People who try to correct other people that say “pretty unique” are either thinking excessively while simultaneously showing you that they don’t care or are not interested by what you have to say or don’t have the brain power to interpret an absolute adjective that has been modified.
Bill Brohaugh said,
September 17, 2008 at 6:38 am
Jeff: Good points, all, and I agree with your bottom line. Persnickitors who go out of their way to “correct” language use outside of their personal comfort zone in social situations indeed seem to be interested more in themselves than in you.
Lyndel said,
October 27, 2008 at 11:19 am
Well said.
Keith said,
November 25, 2009 at 11:06 am
I just stumbled upon this and have to disagree with the above (late I know but there are a lot of pages on the internet to go through). Unique means one of a kind and while something can be almost one of a kind it can’t be very one of a kind.
As for people who correct grammar? It depends who is talking. For example, if your child said something like; ‘I ain’t never doing that’ or ‘I don’t want nothing’ then I guess you would correct it… but then only if you knew it was incorrect.