intensifiers: which is more powerful

[Joel S. Berson]

You got me.  But as I remember it, Richie is nicer.

Joel

At 9/20/2011 08:07 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>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:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > 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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>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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