"mediocre"

[Jim Parish]

RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
> I said that "mediocre" implies a scale with moderate/ordinary at the
> top=20 because that is exactly what the American Heritage definition
> says: "moderat= e to=20 inferior." NOAD is even clearer: " of only
> moderate quality; not very good:=20= a=20 mediocre actor."

I think I see the problem. The word "mediocre" covers a portion of the
scale; the scale itself may go much higher, but the portion of the scale
covered by "mediocre" tops out at "moderate/ordinary". (In other words,
the confusion hasn't been over the meaning of "mediocre", but over the
meaning of "scale"!)

Jim Parish

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