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Bonus 89: The best and worst comparatives episode
Have you ever seen a sign saying "This city's best pizza" or a mug saying " World's greatest teacher" and been...sort of skeptical? Or how about saying something like "you're my best sister" if you only have one sister? Words like better and best, greater and greatest are ways of comparing things, and sometimes they start feeling weird if the groups of things being compared are too large or too small.
In this bonus episode, Gretchen and Lauren get enthusiastic about ways of comparing things to each other. We talk about why comparisons get weird when the groups are too large or too small, the hidden etymological connection between more and most, how we choose between er/est and more/most (and why "funner" is really more logical), and how English has more ways of making comparatives than many other languages. We also talk about strategies that other languages use for making comparatives (such as "to me, you are tall" and "this house is big. that house is very big."), why some words are harder to make comparative (can someone be more unique or more pregnant?), and how to play Wavelength, a fun board game that's all about silly comparatives. Listen to this episode about ways of comparing things to each other, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.