Qualifiable favorite?

[Peter A. McGraw]

I use "least favorite" in exactly the way Mark does.  I don't think I use
"most favorite," but I can IMAGINE using it, whereas I can't imagine a
possible use for "more favorite."  This indicates to me that "most
favorite" would actually be an intensifier ("Wow--is that ever my
favorite!!!") rather than an authentic grader.

--On Thursday, August 29, 2002 11:50 AM -0400 Mark A Mandel
<mam at THEWORLD.COM> wrote:

> On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, sagehen wrote:
>
># Is /favorite/ qualifiable?  My dialect excludes  the expression "least
># favorite."  A thing either is or isn't a favorite, but I see & hear
># "least favorite" frequently.  Is this regional, or is it a general shift?
>
> I accept and use it, but as a reverser, not a qualifier. Absolutes don't
> take real-number multipliers, but this is in effect a multiplier of -1.
>
> -- Mark A. Mandel



****************************************************************************
                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu