"Winningest" -- a proper word?

[Wilson Gray]

"Damnedest" is non-standard?! That's the damnedest thing I've ever
heard! Well, do your damnedest, prescriptivists! :-)

-Wilson

On 4/21/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Winningest" -- a proper word?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The superlative suffix "-est" may be affixed to various, perhaps in theory all, present-participial adjectives, though usually with minor phonetic modification, as "fightin'est," "feudin'est," "dialect-mappin'est," etc.
>
> And various past-participial adjectives, as "damnedest," "cussedest," etc.
>
> My guess is that the practice is regional in origin.
>
> JL
>
> Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote: ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      "Winningest" -- a proper word?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From today's Austin American-Statesman. Any comments?
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> _http://www.statesman.com/search/content/life/stories/other/04/21/0421greig.=
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> (http://www.statesman.com/search/content/life/stories/other/04/21/0421greig.=
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> Q: Is "winningest" a proper word? I hear it often in sports commentary, but=20=
> =20
> it always strikes me as a bit off. For example: "John Force is the winninges=
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> drag racer of all time." =20
> =E2=80=94 Michael D. =20
> A: I agree. "Winningest" is listed as an informal adjective in a few =20
> dictionaries, including the American Heritage Dictionary of the English  Lan=
> guage,=20
> but I did not find it in the Oxford English Dictionary. =20
> The scholars at the University of Texas grammar hot line, 475-8372, said =20
> "winningest" is not a good word  choice.        =20
> ...
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> (OED)
> winning, ppl. a.
> =20
> 2. Gaining, or resulting in, victory or superiority in a  contest or=20
> competition; victorious. In U.S. colloq. use also in superlative. winning ha=
> zard: see=20
> _HAZARD_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?query_type=3Dfulltext&queryword=3Dwi=
> nningest&first=3D1&max_to_show=3D10&search_spec=3Dfulltext&sort_type=3Dalpha=
> &search_
> id=3DyCgj-suaWSR-3723&control_no=3D50285956&result_place=3D1&xrefword=3Dhaza=
> rd&ps=3Dn.)=20
>  n. 7b. winning stroke, a stroke that gains a point in a  game, or one by=20
> which the game is won. =20
> 1592  _SHAKES._ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-s2.html#shakes)  =20
> Rom. & Jul. III. ii. 12 Learne me  how to loose a winning match. 1609  _HOLL=
> AND_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-h3.html#holland)  Amm. Marcell. 290=
> =20
> Contemning  that Emperour who everie where in civile warre went away on the=20
> winning hand. 1822  _SCOTT_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-s.html#scott)  Nigel Introd. Epist.=
> , I am not  displeased to find the game a winning one.=20
> 1855  Poultry Chron. II. 486 Neither  should I have given the first place to=
> =20
> the winning Dorking cock. 1860  L=C3=96WENTHAL  Morphy's Games Chess 56 The=20=
> =20
> winning move. 1884  Marshall's Tennis Cuts 114 In  playing against a fine pl=
> ayer, it=20
> is imperative to go for a winning-stroke  whenever there is a fair opening.=20
> 1974  State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 5 Mar. 6-A/7 John Bates, coach of=20
> Maryland-Eastern Shore, at 26-1 the winningest college  basketball team in t=
> he nation.=20
> 1979  Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 5D/1 Slota defeated  Sarah Cap, the=20
> winningest active greyhound with 113 career  victories. 1985  Dirt Bike Mar.=
> =20
> 23/2 (Advt.),  That's the moment you know what the winningest racers and mos=
> t=20
> satisfied riders  know.
>
>
>
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                                      -Sam'l
Clemens
------
The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones.

                                           Rumanian proverb

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