Alicorn comments on Being a teacher - Less Wrong

51 Post author: Swimmer963 14 March 2011 08:03PM

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Comment author: Mark_Eichenlaub 20 March 2011 05:22:26AM *  4 points [-]

I'm waiting for someone to construct an example where one has adjectives in pairs that exhibit non-transitive order.

To me, a "solitary blue Smurf" is the color blue, but a "blue, solitary Smurf" is sad.

From The Night Before Christmas

"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,"

versus

"He was chubby and plump, a right old jolly elf,"

The original doesn't make me think that Saint Nick is literally old. It's more like the "old" in "good old boys" (which is another example; compare to "old good boys"). The transposition seems to change the literal meaning. If you permute some more, you can wind up with nonsense - "an old jolly right elf", "an old right jolly elf", etc.

As another example, I would have a different idea of what's being said if someone pointed out to me a "sweaty hot runner" versus a "hot sweaty runner". The first makes me think the runner is sexually attractive, but the second doesn't.

Comment author: Alicorn 20 March 2011 05:26:00AM 6 points [-]

The nonsense permutations, where "right" doesn't come first, are probably because "right" is acting as an adverb here, modifying the adjectives and not the noun.

Comment author: Mark_Eichenlaub 20 March 2011 05:43:07AM 1 point [-]

Ah, yes. That sounds right.