Will you help an 8th grade teacher?

[Gerald Cohen]

Dear Ms. Kammert,

   I will attempt a partial answer to your questions.

1) You are correct that "unique" means "one of a kind," and so
something is either unique or it isn't, "Very unique" or "a little
unique" doesn't make much sense. But there is also a tendency in
language to take terms that render an extreme quality (e.g. fabulous,
fantastic) and reduce their extreme quality either by overuse (as
Hollywood publicists do) or by adding an adverb ("very fabulous").
When your students say "very unique," they are reducing the extreme
quality of "unique" to merely "unusual."

    I've written an article on this sort of development: "Reflections
on Degree in Language," in my _Etymology and Linguistic Principles_,
vol.2, 1991. (self-published), pp. 125-131.  If you'd like a copy of
the article, please just send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

     As for an appropriate web-site for questions about English usage,
the ADS site (the one you contacted) is good--but only for you as a
teacher. (Some of the material discussed here is X-rated). And on a
general note, while it is important for students to have a feel for
what is right and wrong concerning language (say, in writing
compositions), it is also good if they get some understanding of
language beyond this prescriptivism. Why not stay tuned to this
discussion group and pick and choose what is appropriate for them?

---Gerald Cohen
    (Professor of German and Russian;
     research specialty: Etymology)

>
>Date:         Sun, 15 Apr 2001 09:52
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>From: Jan Kammert <write at WOLFENET.COM>
>Subject:      Will you help an 8th grade teacher?
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>I teach 8th grade English and U.S. history, and have been talking to my
>students about the correct usage of words.  I wonder if my information is
>outdated.  Can you help me?
>I think that because the word unique means one of a kind, there is no such
>thing as a little unique or very unique.  I also think that the word
>ignorant is NOT the same thing as stupid, even though my students use
>ignorant to mean unable to learn.  I also think the word whether implies
>the or not part, so someone should say, "I don't know whether I'm going to
>have lunch," and not, "I don't know whether or not I'm going to have
>lunch."
>What do you all think about these three?  Am I sticking too closely to
>what my own grade school teachers taught me?
>Also, is there a good web site any of you are aware of that could help my
>students or me learn more about grammar and usage?
>Thanks!
>Jan
>
>Jan Kammert                             McMurray Middle School
>American Studies                        9329 SW Cemetery Road
>206-463-9168, ext.270                   Vashon WA  98070
>write at wolfenet.com                      USA