Quantifiers and Absolute Words 2

[CajunCenturion]

[li]More complete[/li]
[li]Nearly perfect[/li]
[li]Almost unique[/li]
The above three examples illustrate the use of a quantifier on an absolute word.

Would anyone care to comment on these 'almost oxymoronic' constructions?

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[Dimandja]

Nearly perfect" makes sense. It means: it would be perfect without that little flaw in it. Lots of diamonds are like that.

The other two are oxymoronic.

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[RCorrigan]

I have seen "Near Fatal" used in journalism over and over again !!!
Maybe the papers want a "Dramtic" headline rather than a grammatically correct one !!!!


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[SQLSister]

More complete makes sense too.

The report is more complete than it was last week.

Near Fatal bothers me becasue it is grammatically incorrect, but nearly fatal makes sense. The accident was nearly fatal.

I think that there are valid reasons to put a qualifier on an absolute word.

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[Dimandja]

The legendary "near miss" is still making headlines out there.

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[Thadeus]

If one can be 'near' an absolute, then 'almost' should be valid as well.

The cup is near empty. The cup is almost empty.

That fish is near dead. That fish is almost dead.

The report is near completion. The report is almost complete.

I am nearly finished the report. I am almost finished the report.

The shelf is near level. The shelf is almost level.

 

[Dimandja]

I still think "More complete" is not right. I don't see how one thing can be complete, and another more complete.

However, "nearly/almost complete" or "near completion" are all valid, in my opinion.

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[mwolf00]

dimandja - would you rather hear "less incomplete" in SQL Sister's post above?

The report is more complete than it was last week.

The report is less incomplete than it was last week.

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[SQLSister]

More complete in comparision to a different version of the item or a differnt item.
The project is currently more complete than it was December 1st. In other words it is 70% complete now and was only 50% complete then.
Project a is more complete than project b. In other words, project a is closer to being finished than project b.


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[Dimandja]

No. "less incomplete/complete" and "more complete/incomplete" don't seem right to me.

Come to think of it, while "nearly complete" is Ok with me, "nearly incomplete" is not.

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[Thadeus]

SQLSister,
Star for you on the project comparison example. That is spot on!

~Thadeus

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

More complete" or "More perfect" can be comparitve terms, referring to a previous state of completion.

Nearly complete (now) ... more complete (than then) ... (finally) complete.

No comment on the "Unique" thing, as it has recently been done to near death.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

How about "nearer completion" rather than "more complete"? I'd be much more likely to use the former.

"More perfect" doesn't work for me at all. "It's a more perfect version of the software than the last release." Why not just say "better?"

[tt]-John[/tt]
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[sleipnir214]

As for unique, there is a good commentary in the usage notes for the entry on the word at YourDictionary.com.

That article, however, talks about very unique or nearly unique. If I possess one of only two of an object in the world, can't I logically describe the object in my possession as "nearly unique"?


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[Mike555]

How about almost forgot?

Regards,
Mike

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[Mr3Putt]

More complete" is bad. In my opinion (therefore, obverse to public opinion and reasoned consideration), an item may be nearer to completion, but not "more done".

It just doesn't work outside a very tight context and it unfairly assumes background knowledge of the listener/reader.

It certainly gets used often enough to be understood easily, but is it a proper use of the words? I don't think so. Complete equals All, in my book.

Is this the complete content of the box?
Nah, this is the more complete content of the box.
Eh?
Well, we only had half of it before.
And?
Now it's three quarters... y'know, more complete.
Go away.

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]

 

[Dimandja]

70% complete" is ok by me, because the completion refers to the milestone (70%). "Half done" is also ok for the same reason. "More done" refers to the entire object, and therefore is not ok.

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[Mr3Putt]

Indeed,"70% complete" does make sense... in fact, I would easily accept anything up to and including "99% complete" (maybe even 100%, although 'twould be redundant).

It is the implication of "101% (or more)complete" that I would object to.

The term "more complete" does not qualify itself, and maybe that's my sticking point. Other phrases like "mostly complete" or "50% complete" are self-qualifying... the reader/listener is given a qualifier (mostly, nearly, not, in-), and then a point of reference (completion). They do not need to know the scope of the project, nor any prior "levels of completion" to interpret the sentence.

 

[SQLSister]

That's why I said "more complete" could only be correctly used as a comparative. The phrase acually is "more complete than." And sometimes you don't want to say specifc percentages or don't know them, so you use the vaguer (is that real word? More vague?) comparison of this is more complete than that.

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[GPOTony]

Re "near miss" etc, there was a headline in my local paper once "MAN RECOVERS FROM FATAL CRASH".