Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, iPod Family, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, Steve Jobs
Grammar Girl covers the "funnest" iPod ever
Believe it or not, Grammar Girl is suprisingly forgiving -- she says that fun, while originally a noun ("we had fun"), has made a transition in the last century or so to an "attributive noun" which can be used as an adjective ("we had a fun party"). And while old-timers may flinch at the words "funner" and "funnest", the correct way to modify one-syllable adjectives is in fact by adding "-er" and "-est" to the ends. So technically, "funnest" is grammatically correct, even if it isn't exactly accepted; Grammar Girl calls it "grating and horrifying."
She finishes today's podcast, however, with a scary note for language traditionalists -- it could very well be that Apple's usage of the word is just what "funnest" needs to go over the edge into regular acceptance. Sure, we get that language evolves, but couldn't they just have said it was "the most fun iPod ever?" Or, even more traditionally, "the most fun you'll have with an iPod?"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
TJ said 5:07PM on 9-12-2008
Think "different."
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vee said 5:11PM on 9-12-2008
Think Differenter
TJ also said 5:22PM on 9-12-2008
Think most differentest? Did I take that too far.. I took that too far.....
Kurt Tappe said 5:10PM on 9-12-2008
I definitely see both sides of this one. I'm usually the grammar (and punctuation and spelling) nazi to the chagrin of my friends, family, and co-workers. To that end I did cringe when Steve Jobs' "funnest" slide appeared on Tuesday. But I very quickly realized that Apple was pulling another "Think Different." They have purposely chosen to use "funnest" to get your attention. It will come to be associated with the iPod for who knows how long (I suspect a while) and in so doing they'll have pushed their products and appeal further into the vernacular. So no matter how much you cringe when you see it (and I still do, a bit), you must admit it's effective.
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eric-san said 6:19PM on 9-12-2008
With all due respect to the punctuation-nazi, I see 2 misplaced commas.
joe said 3:56PM on 9-16-2008
Not to mention how he started a sentence with 'but...'
JKT said 5:52PM on 9-16-2008
Sorry, Eric, you are wrong on both counts:
1) I do not subscribe to Chicago rules that you do not put a comma before the final item in a list. Reason: "The greatest influences in my life are my parents, God and Anne Margret." The comma is very necessary to ensure the reader can distinguish the final two items from each other.
2) The comma before "a bit" indicates that I would have paused while speaking the statement. Therefore, it belongs.
Graham Stevens said 5:14PM on 9-12-2008
That girl really is a cunning linguist...
In all seriousness I dislike the word funnest. Plus the first time I saw it I misread it as funniest.
Mind you not as much as I hate crappy adverts in podcasts (talking to you grammar girl!).
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Fred said 5:26PM on 9-12-2008
Your dislike probably comes from the fact that "funnest" IS NOT A WORD! (yelling directed at Apple, not you.) I'm no grammar or spelling purist, but I expect a little more than "funnest".
brettt said 5:23PM on 9-12-2008
ahhh, that podcast scared me. the embedded ad was disturbingly slipped in there, and incredibly long.
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Jeremy said 5:29PM on 9-12-2008
I think we can all be a bit more forgiving nowadays about things like this especially as Grammar Girl confirms it's at least in the correct format.
The main reason I think it's a dumb word to use for the ad is like everyone else, I can't stop reading it as "funniest." It's kind of a no-brainer not to use a word for a product that can easily be misread as a similar word with an almost opposite meaning.
I expect it won't be around for long. When Apple makes a mistake like this they usually leave it up for a bit (signalling that they are ignoring the criticism) and then quietly change it once the criticism dies down (confirming to the rest of us that we were right all along.)
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will said 5:35PM on 9-12-2008
the point of using "funnest" is that they are trying to cast the new touch in a lighthearted and FUN manner - in such a way that grammar doesn't even matter.
trust me, apple knows funnest is not a real word. it does, however, more accurately describe the experience one would have in using the myriad apps that are designed for short attention spans.
lack of grammar = lighthearted = just wants to have fun with silly apps.
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LD said 5:41PM on 9-12-2008
Apple could have said, "The iPod that's the most fun ever because there are a lot of neat games for it and you can do lots of other things too." But that isn't quite as catchy, is it?
It's advertising, get over it. Grammar doesn't really apply in this situation and to suggest it does is just stupid.
"I'm lovin' it!" Did grammar girl think that was horrifying too?
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Justin Thompson said 5:54PM on 9-12-2008
"funnest" isn't a word? Umm... ya think? In this case its a marketing device. Lots of companies are using grammatically incorrect slogans these days. Get over it.
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houman said 6:03PM on 9-12-2008
The catch line 'Think Different' is not correct either - ('Think Differently' would be correct) but it works as does 'funnest'.
This keeps in line with Apple's use of incorrect grammar for close to a decade. This is an Apple familiar site - why post dumb things like this, seriously - it's marketing as the previous post said.
I guess it's a slow Friday for you folks at TUAW
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AkaokA said 7:50PM on 9-12-2008
Think Different is perfectly correct. The slogan is telling you *what* to think, not *how* to think.
Think linguistics before you type prescriptivism.
houman said 9:00PM on 9-12-2008
AkaokA - I stand corrected. One could argue that prescriptions of the English language as spoken in the U.S., 'Different' would more times than not be used as an adverb in the sentence referenced. But you are right and I am wrong.
robogobo said 4:15AM on 9-13-2008
wow, that was cool.
pinner said 6:36PM on 9-12-2008
I'm certain "the most fun iPod ever" would be the phrase I'd use to describe said device, if I happened to have one....
Regarding a tendency in readers to see "funniest" in the promo ad: look no further than the screen of the featured iPod – rather "clowny" if you ask me.
Hmmn. Perhaps "goofiest" is really what the ad says.
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Blaktornado said 7:05PM on 9-12-2008
I flinch every time I read the word. Apple or no Apple.
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