co-equal

[Mark Mandel]

ISTM that "co-equal" generally means "equal in rank/power, with neither/none
entitled to command the other(s)", while "equal" as a predicate is generally
applied to magnitudes.

As a quotation, "All men are created equal" doesn't bear on this question,
unless (imho) the objectionable sentence alluded to it, e.g. by using
"created co-equal".

The noun "[X's] equal" -- "He is your equal", "We are equals", and whether
or not extended with something like "in {that respect / all respects}" -- is
a different construction and likewise irrelevant.

m a m

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 8:24 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> A pundojournalist on NPR yesterday characterized Harry Byrd's position on
> government as the insistence that the three federal branches must be
> "co-equal."  Somebody wrote in to whine that "co-equal" was, essentially, a
> stuipidism for "equal."
>
> The PJ replied confidently that "equal" correctly applies only to pairs.
> Since there are more than two involved, "co-equal" is the correct in this
> context.  (You know, as in "all men are created  co-equal.")
>
> In fact, "co-equal" goes back to the 15th C. The OED entry provides no
> support for the claim that its correct application is exclusively to groups
> of three or more. It is, essentially, merely an emphatic kind of "equal."
> What is "co-equal" is absolutely equal in all relevant characteristics,
> even
> if one might claim theoretically that it is not or should not be. (At least
> that's my rationalization. Personally, I prefer "equal.")
>
> A quick scan of the longer entry on "equal" reveals no support for
> the restriction of the word to pairs.
>
> Q: Which position, the listener's or the PJ's, is the sillier? (It's a
> trick
> question: NPR's decision to air the dispute is the winner here.)
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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>

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