The Words to be Used

Adjectives That Cannot be Qualified

Dissipation o f meaning has its worst effects w hen the connotation o f a
once powerful w ord is virtually forgotten. There are adjectives w hich
cannot be qualified. That is another way o f saying that, if something is
the very best, there cannot be anything m ore best. The same is true of
the w ord equal. In Animal Farm George Orwell mocked totalitarian
com m unist propaganda w hen the pigs am ended the slogan All animals
are equal by adding the illogical form, but some are m ore equal than
others.
ideal
Here is a case in point. An ideal concept or article is one w hich cannot
be im proved upon.
There could be no more ideal Christmas gift than a flight on Concorde.
The ideal Christmas gift is the perfect or best conceivable Christmas
gift, and therefore the concept o f a m ore ideal one is inadmissible.
minimal
They feel there is everything to gain from keeping a start-up service on the
go, however minimal.
Just as the m inim um is the least possible am ount, so the w ord m inim al
describes the smallest possible quantity. Thus there can be no degrees o f
minimality, and the w ords however m inim al do not make sense. If
m inim al is kept, how ever m ust go, and vice versa: They feel there is
everything to gain from keeping a start-up service on the go, however
small.
normal
A n o rm is an average level qualitatively or quantitatively. Just as a certain
level o f achievement or behaviour cannot be described as m ore average
than another, so it cannot be described as m ore norm al than another.
W hat the w eather forecasters mean w hen they mistakenly promise us
m ore norm al temperatures tom orrow is that the temperatures tom orrow
will be nearer to the average (or the n o rm ) for the time of year.