intensifiers: which is more powerful

[Jonathan Lighter]

Richer than Scrooge McDuck?  No definitive net worth for either is available
or even conceivable. "Estimates" appear to be assertions only.

But I believe that each is demonstrably wealthier than Charles Montgomery
"Radiation" Burns.

JL

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 7:57 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: intensifiers: which is more powerful
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 9/20/2011 12:51 PM, Michael Newman wrote:
> >Krugman (my hero) has an interesting use of intensifiers in his blog
> >today.: (
> http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/taxes-and-the-wealthy/)
> >
> >
> >the CBO estimates that separate the really rich from the only very
> >rich only go up to 2005:
>
>
>
> >He then goes on to say: "Changes in tax rates have strongly favored
> >the very, very rich."
>
>
>
> >We usually think of intensifiers as roughly equivalent, but here
> >there's a ranking although I'm not sure which is supposed to be more
> >powerful, "really" or "very." I think it's "very," but I'm not
> >confident about that.
>
> It seems clear that the "really rich" are richer than the "only very rich".
>
> The "very, very rich" are surely richer than the (only) "very
> rich".  But then, I think, the "really rich" should probably be
> compared to the "very, very rich", not the merely "only very
> rich".  Which is richer than the other is not clear to me.
>
> But Richie Rich is richer than them all.
>
> Joel
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >Michael Newman
> >Associate Professor of Linguistics
> >Queens College/CUNY
> >michael.newman at qc.cuny.edu
> >
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> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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