Heard in a TV ad

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Aug 7, 2007, at 4:10 PM, Dennis Preston wrote, about "much more
comfy-er":

> Why's that? more +  adj + er is very well attested in many varieties.
> What could be more better?

i *think* that speakers with double comparatives have single
comparatives as well, and use the "more" of the double ones as an
intensive (so that "much more X-er" would be a particular natural
combination).  but i haven't worked on the variable myself.

MWDEU notes (under "double comparison") that double comparatives and
superlatives were used quite a bit in the 14th through 17th centuries
(Shakespeare, KJV), but then declined precipitously in standard
writing, at least in part under attack from a slew of grammarians.

(MWDEU also notes a slightly different kind of double comparison, in
"worser" and "bestest".)

in any case, the usage is alive and healthy as a feature of non-
standard speech.  are there any systematic studies of the variant?
(plenty of anecdotes and observations in passing, yes, but systematic
studies?)

arnold

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