What is 'purdy'?

They are talking about their looks. And one thinks he has
quite good look. Then he says like that

Think I might be purdy.

What does 'purdy' mean?

Always appreciate your help.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by HelpMe

They are talking about their looks. And one thinks he has
quite good look. Then he says like that

Think I might be purdy.

What does 'purdy' mean?

Always appreciate your help.

purdy is a pronunciation variant of pretty.

Input: pretty
Stress [r]: puretty
Delete "e": pur_tty
Voice "tt": purdy
Output: purdy

All the best, :)

[blacknomi]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

purdy is a pronunciation variant of pretty.

Input: pretty
Stress [r]: puretty
Delete "e": pur_tty
Voice "tt": purdy
Output: purdy

All the best, :)

Very fascinating information!

[Francois]

I don't think you can say 'very fascinating' (not gradable). Sorry to nitpick

FRC

[blacknomi]

Being picky is not a crime. :D

I've never noticed that 'fascinating' is not gradable. Is there any list that contains ungradable adjective? I believe it will be very helpful to ESL/EFL or English teachers. :D

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by blacknomi

Being picky is not a crime. :D

I've never noticed that 'fascinating' is not gradable. Is there any list that contains ungradable adjective? I believe it will be very helpful to ESL/EFL or English teachers. :D

But...people use it. :D

I like it. :D

Quite fascinating. 8)

[Francois]

Yeah, 'quite fascinating' is fine ('most fascinating' is fine too), but then I can say 'he's not quite dead' (whereas 'he's very dead' is wrong). Maybe 'gradable' is not the good term. Anyway, 'very fascinating' does sound weird, doesn't it?

FRC

[blacknomi]

• Non-gradable adjectives express qualities that cannot be intensified by using degree adverbs such as ‘very’, e.g. *‘very male’.
  
  Notes The qualities expressed by non-gradable adjectives tend to be absolute, and they often fall into pairs, e.g. ‘male/female’, ‘married/single’, ‘black/white’, ‘true/false’. When such adjectives are modified by degree adverbs like ‘very’, the effect is sometimes to give emphasis rather than to express the degree of the characteristic expressed, e.g. ‘That’s very true’, ‘It was a very black day’. Alternatively, the nature of the adjective is changed: compare ‘I’m Scottish’ (= nationality) with ‘I’m very Scottish’ (= I have many Scottish characteristics).

FRC, I would like to ask you a question from a point of ESL learner. How can you distinguish from gradable to ungradable/non-gradable ajectives? For me, 'fascinating' is a hard one for me to categorize this as non-gradable adjective. There are some adjectives that I can think of now, would you please check if it is correct.


non-gradable: perfect/ fabulous/ fantastic/ awesome/ wonderful/ perfect


Can you provide some nore commonly used adjectives if there is any? Thank you.



Sources from here

[Francois]

non-gradable: perfect/ fabulous/ fantastic/ awesome/ wonderful/ perfect

Yes, 'very perfect' is clearly wrong, likewise for the others. But 'quite fantastic' is fine for instance, etc. I would put 'fascinating' into that group.

How can I tell? Well, I just ask myself whether if the adjective divide the word in two eg. legal/illegal.
Some more: acceptable, legal, moral, feasible, mortal, original, debatable...
Yes, many work with 'very', but that's the meaning you put in red in your post: " the effect is sometimes to give emphasis rather than to express the degree of the characteristic expressed". Eg. I'm not sure it's very legal. This is a turn of speech; either it's legal, or it's not. Either it's an original painting, or it's not etc.
Some words are too strong to be gradable, like awesome, fantastic etc. How can something be slightly fantastic? Likewise, slightly fascinating sounds wrong.

FRC

[blacknomi]

I must say I have to spend more time on developing a feeling of English. You just mentioned that 'fascinating' is not a gradable adjective. So it's a bit weird to use modifier 'very' in front of 'fascinating'.

Cas, what do you mean by "But...people use it"? Is this the case that I just mentioned in my previous post, to give emphasis rather than to express the degree of the characteristic expressed.



1. Cas' explanation is as fantastic as Mike's.
==> Although 'fantastic' is categorized into non-gradable adjective, one still can use this word as a posive degree in a sentence. Right?

2-a. Cas' explanation is more fantastic than Mike's.
==> Thus, I assume non-gradable adjective is not allowed in a comparative sentence. But I had myself persuade in this condition where both Cas' and Mike's explanations are fantastic. I'd like to make them in comparison deliberately, Cas' is more fantastic while Mike's is less fantastic.


Does that make sense?