The Stylistic Use of Adjectives
The only grammatical category qualitative and quantitative adjectives have is degrees of comparison. The meaning of this category is very close to a stylistic category of expressiveness, especially in such cases when a great degree of some quality is underlined both grammatically and lexically, e.g., a most valuable idea, the sweetest baby, the newest fashion of all. Besides it can be expressed by means of different structures, cf., the sweetest baby – the sweetest of babies, a most foolish wife – the most foolish of wives, he is foolish – he is as foolish as can be. In literary colloquial the emotional-evaluating component is often introduced by pairs of evaluating words: nice and warm, good and strong, etc.,
e.g., I was hoping you’d have everything nice and clean and tidy when I came in. (Osborne)
The use of degrees of comparison with the adjectives, which normally do not have them, creates a stylistic effect, e.g., You’re true r than any other friend I ever had. (Binchy) You cannot be deader than dead. (Hemingway)
The same effect may be achieved when a synthetic way of forming degrees of comparison is used with polysyllabic words, e.g., Curiouser and curiouser! cried Alice. (Carrol)
Violation of the rules of word-building and form-building rules results in a greater influence on a reader or listener, e.g., I want a Christmassy Christmas’, Caroline explained.’old fashioned’ (O’Flanagan).
It might be too Dublinish for people round here. (Binchy)
It is often found in advertising, e.g ., The orangemostest drink in the world! Double violation of valency rules results in the word that is expressive and easy to remember.
Violation of reference in adjectives causes changes in valency and creates a great expressive effect, e.g., white rush (about the movement of a swan ), hungry ribs and shoulders, idiotic shoelaces, etc.
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