"all the faster" (in Latin too)

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jun 29, 2005, at 10:54 AM, Chris Waigl wrote:

> There's also "all the more NOUN", including one example from Mencken.
> Here are a few more...

Erik Thomas (p. 257) says:

-----
      Crozier (1984 [AmSp59.310-31, "The Scotch-Irish Influence on
American English"]) believes that the _all the_ + comparative
construction originated with the _all the_ + substantive construction
found in most forms of standard English, as in _It's all the evidence
we need_.  In some dialects, the _all the_ + substantive construction
can also be used, with the meaning 'only', with the pronoun _one_,
and with singular forms of count nouns, such as _daughter_, with
which it is not used in standard English in the singular:
   5.  That's all the daughter he's got.
      According to Crozier, this extension continues in Ulster
English to the _all the_ + positive construction, as in his example,
_That's all the far he went_.  This construction is completely absent
in southern England, however.
      [p. 258] In the United States, the _all the_ + positive
construction is relatively uncommon and largely confined to the South...
      Far more frequent in the United States is the _all the_ +
comparative structure, which Crozier feels was an American innovation.
----

> ... "All the more NOUN"...

this would bring _all the_ *back* in combination with substantives.
the examples make me break out in asterisks, however.

Thomas says (p. 264) that

-----
a superlative can be used to modify a noun, whereas _all the_ +
comparative normally cannot be.  There is one possible exception to
this rule, though.  In my idiolect, the sentence
   12.  That's all the better of a shape he's in
can be reduced by the deletion of _of a_ to
   13.  That's all the better shape he's in
where _all the better_ becomes reanalyzed as a modifier of _shape_.
-----

not for me.  both 12 and 13 are awful for me, but from chris waigl's
examples it seems that there are those who would have no problem with
them.

lotsa variation here.

arnold