ArcaMax

Q: I've sometimes heard a future event described as being "more and more inevitable." Are there actually degrees of inevitability? -- Frank Greene, Glastonbury, Connecticut

A: No. "Inevitable" is one of about 30 common adjectives described by linguists as "uncomparables," that is, they have absolute meanings that can't be modified by adverbs.

The most frequently abused uncomparable, of course, is "unique." Because "unique" means "one and only," something can't logically be described as being "very unique," "more unique" or "most unique."

Other absolute adjectives include fatal, main, principal, impossible, final, ideal, unanimous, preferable, sufficient, favorite and only. And, yes, the framers of the U.S. Constitution were slipping when they called for a "more perfect Union."

All this said, calling an event "more and more inevitable" is a forgivable error because "more and more" could be interpreted as modifying the implied verb "seems." So the sentence really means, "More and more, this event seems inevitable."

And in case you're wondering, the word "evitable" exists, though it's rarely used today. It means "capable of being avoided," as in "Optimistic analysts believe nuclear war is evitable."

Q: Which is correct? "There is one fewer apple in the basket" or "There is one less apple in the basket." -- Nancy Johnson, via email

A: I love this question because it points out the danger of obsessive adherence to grammatical rules.

The phrases "one fewer apple" and even the slightly more felicitous "one apple fewer" are attempts to rigidly follow the dictum that "fewer" must always be used with countable items ("fewer apples") and "less" must only be used with big batches of uncountable items ("less fruit").

But there's one big problem: "There is one fewer apple" and "There is one apple fewer" sound, to borrow a term from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, "weird."

While technically "There is one less apple in the basket" violates the grammatical rule regarding "fewer" and "less," it simply sounds more natural than "one fewer apple." "One less apple" is what grammarians call an "idiom" -- an expression that violates traditional grammar but is nonetheless standard English.

So let's say you were to snitch an apple from your grandmother's bushel basket as she was putting up apple preserves. If you were to tell her, "There's one fewer apple in your basket," both your grandmother and your sentence would be jarring.

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM

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