OT: Qualifying Absolutes

AgentZero · #1 March 30th, 2005, 06:28 PM

As the resident native English speaker at work (one of 4 in an office of 250, believe it or not), I was recently asked what the English term was for when one qualifies an absolute. For example, if you say, "I'm a little bit tired," then 'little bit' is a qualifier for 'tired'. But what do you call it if someone says, "He's a little bit dead"? 'Dead' is an absolute, you either are or you aren't, ergo you cannot be a 'little bit' dead. Is this just bad English or is there a term for it. I thought about oxymoron but 'a little bit' does not actually contradict 'dead'. Is it a paradox, maybe? I got one definition of paradox that seems to fit: That which is apparently, though not actually, inconsistent with or opposed to the known facts in any case. "A little bit dead" seems impossible, but dead is dead, so someone who is a bit dead is just as dead as someone who is really dead.
But I found another definition: An apparently sound argument leading to a contradiction. Which seems not to support it since a little bit dead is a apparantly contradictory argument that is actually sound.

Little help, guys?

TurinTurambar · #2 March 30th, 2005, 07:38 PM

I know of no term. I would simply qualify the attempt to qualify an absolute as "clumsy" or "bad english." It really has no use in proper English. Informal coloquialisms containing qualified absolutes seem to be used only to add levity.

"What's 'is problem?" "Oi, looks a bit dead t'me, mate..."

Turin <---(Self-titled Grammarian)

Renegade 13 · #3 March 30th, 2005, 10:46 PM

Well, with your example "A little bit dead", dead is, as you've said, an absolute. Therefore, adding a qualifyer onto the statement is superfluous, as you pointed out that "A little bit dead" means (essentially) the same as "Dead". In English, the superfluous bits, in this case "A little bit" are usually discarded, therefore if someone said "A little bit dead" that would be improper English.

Oh, and have you noticed (as a native English speaker) that some things just seem grammatically "wrong"?? Usually, if it seems "wrong" (such as in the case of "A little bit dead") there is some incorrect grammar in the statement, paragraph, etc. Some people theorize that this sense of "wrongness" is consistent with the existence of a "language sense" that allows people to learn languages with relative ease.

EDIT: Sorry for all the quotation marks, but it seems they are necessary for the point to be made.

Instar · #4 March 31st, 2005, 12:15 AM

Binary : on/off
That isn't the correct grammar term, but I like binary. Me <3 binary

Suicide Junkie · #5 March 31st, 2005, 01:00 AM

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20020120.html

An objective lesson in the difference between "mostly alive" and "mostly dead"

PS:
<3
To me, that looks more like a butt than a heart

You should use

instead

Will · #6 March 31st, 2005, 01:07 AM

What comes to mind for me is the term "understatement".

I don't think there's any sort of rule of grammar against qualifying an absolute, it's just like any other adjective-noun pair, only the result doesn't really mean anything beyond the noun itself.

Instar · #7 March 31st, 2005, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Suicide Junkie said:
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20020120.html

An objective lesson in the difference between "mostly alive" and "mostly dead"

PS:
<3
To me, that looks more like a butt than a heart

You should use

instead

Sure, but then it wouldn't be leet. Or something.

Kamog · #8 March 31st, 2005, 04:19 AM

A little bit dead is when someone, say, got shot and killed but the body is mostly intact.
Someone is more dead if he got blown to pieces.
Totally dead when turned completely to dust or vaporized.

Strategia_In_Ultima · #9 March 31st, 2005, 08:28 AM

"You are SO TOTALLY dead....."

AgentZero · #10 March 31st, 2005, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Kamog said:
A little bit dead is when someone, say, got shot and killed but the body is mostly intact.
Someone is more dead if he got blown to pieces.
Totally dead when turned completely to dust or vaporized.

Dead: adj. Having lost life; no longer alive.

Dead is dead. It is a state of being. Either someone is dead or they are not. Someone who is shot is just as dead as someone who is vaporized. No definition of 'Dead' that I could find made any reference to there being different degrees of dead.
Many thanks to you guys, anyway. I think I can now go back and inform my friend that qualifying absolutes is simply bad English.