-est x3 (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

G.K., "Play, Film Offered on Same Bill."  Los Angeles Times, 29 Jul 1939
p. A9 col 6

""Western Caravans" is the rip-roaringest, hard-shootingest,
cattle-rustlingest western shown in some time."


Ed Ainsworth, "As You Might Say--"  LA Times 12 Sep 1944 p A4 col 1
"Down in Texas today there is going to be the goldangest,
rip-roaringest, name-callingest scrap since the days of the late
unlamented carpetbaggers."

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Arnold Zwicky
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 10:13 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: -est x3
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      -est x3
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> from Michael Brick,
> Lizard as Big as Texas Finds
> A New Rooftop Home There
> NYT, 6/14/10
>
> ... By force of sheer monstrosity, Iggy soon became the mascot of the
> tequila-swillingest, cosmic-country-blaringest, 10-gallon-hat-
> wearingest joint in all of New York.
>
> [Iggy is a 40-foot, 2600-pound polyurethane-and-steel iguana figure
> that once graced the roof of Lone Star Cafe in Manhattan and has now
> been relocated at the Forth Worth Zoo in Texas.]
>
> ....
>
> my question is about the triplicate superlative formula in the cite,
> which i'm sure is of some age.  anyone have similar examples of
> reasonable venerableness?
>
> in the example above, all three modifiers are inflectional
superlatives
> of synthetic compounds using a PRP verb form ("tequila-swilling",
> "cosmic-country-blaring", "10-gallon-hat-wearing").
>
> (1)  such synthetic compounds are themselves a stylistic feature, as
in
> the mocking subtitle of Geoff Nunberg's 2006 book:
>   Talking right: How conservatives turned liberalism into a tax-
> raising, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, New York Times-reading, body-
> piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show
>
> (2) so are inflectional superlatives of PRP modifiers.  we discussed
> "winningest" and similar examples here back in 2007, noting that many
> people find such inflectional forms marginal at best as standard
> English.  (they certainly have a playful or ostentatious character.)
>
> (3) so is the use of parallel expressions in triplicate.  (this
feature
> has been crystallized into the X3 snowclone -- "location, location,
> location" (with a conventionalized set-up) -- but it has wider uses as
> well.
>
> the cite above has all three of these features, which can occur
> independently, in one package.  i'm looking for other three-in-one
> examples, especially ones from some years ago.
>
> arnold
>
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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