JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for August 21, 2019

“Unique” is evolving into a synonym for “unusual” which can exist in degrees. When was the last time you heard anyone say “sneaked” instead of “snuck”? English evolves, or else we’d still be saying “thee” and “thou”.

She haunts you in your daydreams

Mom is always with you wherever you go!

How can Dot be so picky about grammar and yet be so reckless and dangerous when she drives?

In this case, the use of “individual” is not wrong. It is being used as a synonym for “person”. With all the horrific grammar, spelling and usage I see on Facebook, “very unique” doesn’t bother me at all. LOL.

shouldn’t have gone there, Marcy!

Oh, Marcy! I do understand. My mum was also an English teacher.

I’m 70 and still channeling my grandmother, who was an English teacher!

The phrases that are starting to get to me that I only started hearing a lot recently is “Usually never” and “Usually always”. Why have people started saying this?

Language evolves. “Ain’t” was originally quite acceptable.

Try listening to what she is saying instead of how she is saying it.

Think about a bunch of hit pop tunes that are very similar. Each song is technically “unique.” Now think of a Frank Zappa or Funkadelic song. They’re miles ahead and apart from the hit pop tunes. One could describe the Zappa and P-Funk songs as “very” unique, even if it’s not technically correct to do so.

Isn’t that Joe’s mom, not Marcy’s?

I agree on all points. Some people actually think there are degrees of being unique. If we are then lets do it for real.

Excuse me! But “Unique” and “Individual” doesn’t those words mean the same?

I’ve always maintained that if object A is unique in one attribute and object B is unique in 10 attributes that it is fair to say that B is more unique than A, OR that object C differs from others by a small margin but object D differs from others by a huge margin that D is more unique than C, but I’ve never convinced the nazis.