this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
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One of my favorite things about English is that there are rules for consecutive adjective use that - as far as I know - are never taught to native speakers because we learn them naturally. (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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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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O mark

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 "×").

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Pig Ball Poop

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

◯ large-adult-son

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Unlike many laws of grammar or syntax, this one is virtually inviolable

I got a big ol' exception

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What is the exception

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

fuck

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

size age exception

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

big ol'

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

This is true for most grammar rules in most languages tbh.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

I just let ChatGPT write my adjectives tromp

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The big bad wolf would like a word

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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?

[–] ryven 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There's a competing vowel-ordering rule for consecutive short words, called ablaut reduplication, which can override the adjective order.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

english must be a nightmare to learn

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

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