The suprarelative degree

All languages have a way to compare. In the Romance and Germanic languages, the way to compare is to have a language marker that indicates one item or person who is in some way compared to another item or person. English does this with the word more (as in Your furniture is more padded than the furniture you looked at in the store) or with the suffix -er (as in Your grass is greener than your neighbors. This way of indicating two items' juxtaposition is called the comparative degree. Another way of comparing is to take three or more items and single one of them out for some reason. English does this with the word most (as in Your furniture is the most padded of all the furniture in the stores we went to today) or with the suffix -est (as in Your grass is the greenest on the block). This way of indicating three or more items' juxtaposition is called the superlative degree. One can also use less and least should the comparison be opposite in nature from more and most.

I have gone around the block more than a few times when it comes to comparing people. So, it's easier these days to spot the people I want to be around. On one of the first trips around the block I learned to compare people from Central Texas with those from West Texas. On another trip around the block I worked in education then in the corporate world. So, I was able to compare the kinds of people who worked in those two environments. I also did a little traveling in the state of Texas on one trip around the block. I compared people from different regions of the state. Not too long ago on a trip around the block, I was able to compare people in Canada with those from the US. In a very recent trip, I was around the people in another region of the country and so was able to compare those people to the people I have been around for a long time.

So what is the comparison verdict? If I stay with the comparative degree, then basically, all people fall in the same categories. They have very similar personalities, but still, some stand out over others for being deceptive or honest, friendly or unfriendly, personal or impersonal, coherent or ditzy, even flattering or hostile. With each trip around the block it became easier and easier to judge character and personality.

But what should happen if I move to the superlative degree? I know exactly who to single out as friends, those who are friendlier than just the run-of-the-mill friends, those who will help me the most in life. I have learned to recognize those who reciprocate with trust, forming an inner circle of friends or of business partners.

There is not another degree of comparison in English although some people have developed a way to show a superlative of superlative degree. It is not accepted by grammarians who like to judge such matters. Some people like to use most with a word that is superlative by definition (as in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my most favorite movie of all time). People make this comparison regularly. I would call this extra degree of comparison the suprarelative degree. I would know how to use it. Singling out someone or some event with someone as a pinnacle experience is not hard.

Having gone around a number of blocks, I absolutely know for whom and what I have reserved the suprarelative degree. I am forever grateful for such a pinnacle experience. It keeps me going since I mainly exist in a mere comparative degree world.