Unique

Adjectives make up about 20% of English words. Some are modified frequently: very heavy, extremely tall, mostly sunny, seriously flawed. But a substantial majority are rarely modified, not because of any grammatical rule, but simply because their meanings are so technical or specific that they don’t need to be: provable, midcourse, umbilical, ultraviolet. These words have narrow applications and often name a quality that does not exist in degrees. They are rarely used in the comparative or superlative, but this is a consequence of logic, not of grammar. 'Unique' is often cited as a word that should never be modified, as its original meanings were "being the only one" and "unequaled." But 'unique' has another meaning, "unusual," and it's common to modify the word when it's used this way. Needless to say, people confuse logic and grammar. Grammar is not logical. Nevertheless, some grammarians insist that certain adjectives, usually called “absolute adjectives,” can never be modified. The grammarian Joseph Wright, for example, in his A Philosophical Grammar of the English Language from 1838 (and like others before and since), gave a list of adjectives “ square, dead, entire, false, and obvious. And yet, evidence of actual usage shows that almost square, nearly dead, whole entire, mostly false, and plainly obvious are all commonly used and standard. Which Another word in his list is excellent, and it’s true that this is a word that is seldom seen in the comparative, though the...

Every person is unique. While some of the things that make us different—like our DNA or our fingerprints—we have no control over, each of us is also formed by personal experience and the environment in which we grow up. Our character is influenced by everything around us—emotions, such as love and hate; primal impulses such as hunger or fear, and intellectual premises such as art and philosophy. It's the sum of all these factors that makes us into the individuals we eventually become. No two human beings, no matter how similar, are exactly the same. These thoughts from famous minds on the importance of individuality will help you reflect on and celebrate the importance of being true to yourself. “The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” ―Jim Morrison Khurana, Simran. "Quotes on Being Unique." ThoughtCo, Sep. 8, 2021, thoughtco.com/good-uniqueness-quotes-2833097. Khurana, Simran. (2021, September 8). Quotes on Being Unique. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/good-uniqueness-quotes-2833097 Khurana, Simran. "Quotes on Being Unique." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/good-uniqueness-quotes-2833097 (accessed June 16, 2023).

As former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami, where he pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges around his handling of classified documents, we speak with Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He predicts Trump “will challenge every aspect of this prosecution,” but says there is no reason the trial can’t begin within the next year. Trump is the first president to ever be arraigned on federal charges, just months after he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges in New York in a state investigation involving hush-money payments during the 2016 election campaign. This all comes as the former president, who was impeached twice and is now facing multiple indictments, is now running again for the White House. AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at the booking and arraignment of Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the former president surrendered to authorities at a federal courthouse in Miami, then pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges around his handling of classified documents. Trump became the first president to ever be arraigned on federal charges. The courtroom scene in Miami came just over two months after Trump pled not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges in New York in a separate case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg involving the payment of hush money during Trump’s 2016 campaign. The United States is now facing an unprecedented situation: a former pre...

via: Unsplash / Malcolm Lightbody Have you ever wondered what strange and unique hobbies are out there? Ever asked yourself what are cool hobbies that are also unique? For many of us, hobbies aren't just a way to fill time, they're a passion - activities that make it seem like time stands stillevery time we lose ourselves in them. If you're tired of the same old activities and are looking for something new, check out our awesome unique hobbies. Maybe you'll find your new passion... Contents via: Pexels / Heorhii Heorhiichuk There are good activity ideas and then there are amazing ideas - these are the top unique hobbies that we recommend you check out first. 1. Stand up comedy Who doesn't love to make people laugh? Trying your hand at 'stand up' is a super fun activity. Who It's Great For: Why It's Great: How to Get Started: 2. Foraging Foraging for wild food is a fun outdoor activity that also helps you branch out with cooking. Who It's Great For: Why It's Great: How to Get Started: 3. Grilling Perfecting your grilling technique means you can make delicious meals and impress your friends. Who It's Great For: Why It's Great: How to Get Started: 4. Building rockets Fancy trying your hand at being a rocket scientist? You can in your own backyard. Who It's Great For: Why It's Great: How to Get Started: 5. Knife Making It takes a bit of time and dedication, but making your own knife is very satisfying. Who It's Great For: Why It's Great: How to Get Started: 6. Puppetry The uni...

The unique is also the improbable USAGE Many authors of usage guides, editors, teachers, and others feel strongly that such “absolute” words as complete, equal, perfect, and especially unique cannot be compared because of their “meaning”: a word that denotes an absolute condition cannot be described as denoting more or less than that absolute condition. However, all such words have undergone semantic development and are used in a number of senses, some of which can be compared by words like more, very, most, absolutely, somewhat, and totally and some of which cannot.The earliest meanings of unique when it entered English around the beginning of the 17th century were “single, sole” and “having no equal.” By the mid-19th century unique had developed a wider meaning, “not typical, unusual,” and it is in this wider sense that it is compared: The foliage on the late-blooming plants is more unique than that on the earlier varieties. The comparison of so-called absolutes in senses that are not absolute is standard in all varieties of speech and writing. See also 1 , , the unique positive square root of 4 is 2 ▶USAGE Unique is normally taken to describe an absolute state, i.e. one that cannot be qualified. Thus something is either unique or not unique; it cannot be rather unique or very unique. However, unique is sometimes used informally to mean very remarkable or unusual and this makes it possible to use comparatives or intensifiers with it, although many people object to this u...