''worser'' and ''worstest''

Travis   Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:03 am GMT
>>Guest = troll

guest is someone else, isn't it?<<

Well, yes, these "Guest" and "guest" are different people, but the matter is that I bet this "trolling" of "Guest" (not "guest") is probably them being pissed off with the views that you have expressed in this forum as of late; the main matter is that some people just happen to be more eloquent than others in their reactions to such sorts of things.
Guest   Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:07 am GMT
worse = bad+er (irregular)
worst = bad+est (irregular)

worser= bad+er+er
worsest = bad+est+est

simply put, worsest would be something like happiestest. maybe it is used, but that doesn't make it right.
Kirk   Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:35 am GMT
<<But it's imperative for you to create one of those, mate.>>

Nah, English (as well as the vast majority of the rest of the world's languages without language academies) gets along just fine without one.

<<simply put, worsest would be something like happiestest. maybe it is used, but that doesn't make it right.>>

While most speakers wouldn't have that form, I have heard it used by some. All it is is reanalyzing the base form of the word, such things happen all the time in language (and has given us many forms which today are considered "standard" but were once considered "incorrect" as well).
Guest   Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:37 am GMT
Doesn't "worst" mean "as bad as it can get"?
So how is "worst" different than "worsest" in terms of meaning?
Pete   Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:24 am GMT
<<Doesn't "worst" mean "as bad as it can get"?
So how is "worst" different than "worsest" in terms of meaning?>>

God bless my soul!... Are you really saying that? Are you a native speaker? or a non-native who wants to fuck English?

How come you can say such things.
Guest#2   Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:57 am GMT
I assume "Guest" above is really equating "worst" and "worstest" rather than "worsest". I think most English-speaking folks would consider "worstest" just a humorous form of "worst".

It sort of reminds me of the old phrase "ghostess with the mostest", where "mostest" is a just a humorous synonym for "most".
Pete   Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:06 am GMT
Right, OK. That souns very bizarre to me, but anyway if anyone uses that, hence it's fine. I guess.
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 4:32 am GMT
"The ghostess with the mostest" : ghostess or hostess?
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:31 am GMT
I've heard both. I'm not sure which one came first, though. A google search shows both.
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:01 pm GMT
It's "hostess"
Antonio   Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:28 pm GMT
erm.... what a nice bit of flame this has become...

worser/worster and worstest are wrong, no doubt.

on the other hand we have "lesser"
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:00 pm GMT
"ghostess with the mostess" is from the old TV show (and earlier movie?) called "Topper".
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:46 pm GMT
God bless my soul!... Are you really saying that? Are you a native speaker? or a non-native who wants to fuck English?

How come you can say such things.

Hmm. Wasn't it obvious enough that I was being sarcastic..? My point was that adding a superlative form to a word that already includes the superlative form makes no sense, neither in terms of grammar nor in terms of sense. (And yeah, I meant to type "worstest", not "worsest", damn my typing skills).

A humorous way to emphasize things is a whole different thing. But I thought the original question was whether "worser" and "worstest" are correct in terms of grammar.
Guest   Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:49 pm GMT
Oh, and I am definitely *not* the " "worser" and "worstest" are just natural. So you can go fuck yourself, Pete." Guest.
Adam   Fri Dec 09, 2005 7:35 pm GMT
"Worse" and "worst" are already superlatives, so you can't make them even more superlative than they already are.

However, they are irregular superlatives -

Regular superlatives

Big...........Bigger...........Biggest
Full...........Fuller............Fullest
Heavy.......Heavier.........Heaviest


Irregular superlatives

Bad.........Worse............Worst (also: Bad......Badder........Baddest)
Good.......Better............Best