Talk:funnest

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--Connel MacKenzie T C 19:22, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Seems attested (though only in informal usage) well enough ([1], [2]). Rod (A. Smith) 21:00, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that is should be "most fun" SemperBlotto 21:28, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I use it informally 'cos its easier to say than most fun. Should just be tagged "informal" Andrew massyn 22:08, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Um, not true. "Funner" is also two sylables, but the NN makes it quite difficult to pronounce, especially when compared to the natural "most fun" construction. --Connel MacKenzie T C 07:19, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Um, what's difficult about the "NN" ? 'funner' rhymes with perfectly ordinary words like "runner", "gunner", "stunner", "punner", "shunner", etc. The number of syllables may be the same, but 'most fun' loses to 'funner' in the number of consonants department as far as easiness of speaking goes ("...st f...", now there's a fun conjunction of consonants...) —Muke Tever 23:11, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

The contrast with "runner" is excellent; runner is pronounced "run" + "-er", while "funner" is "fun" + "-ner". That, of course, adds to the comedic effect (reinforcing the fact that it is improper.) Also, the pause between "st" and "f" makes a moot point of your second argument. --Connel MacKenzie T C 18:08, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

delete After seeing what Rod said at I love you above. Thanks for making the point Rod. Andrew massyn 09:42, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

This is not requests for deletion. Hold your vote. —Muke Tever 23:05, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Much agreed with the above - "funnest" is a widely used incorrect construction. bd2412 T 22:24, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Widely used? No. It is spoken/written only as a joke. If it were as prevalent as you say, there'd be tens of thousands of books.google hits. This construction is used as a (not-very original) nonce. --Connel MacKenzie T C 07:19, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

But widely used in that context - surely we have words that are "spoken/written only as a joke" if such use is widespread? bd2412 T 16:31, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

There is a good case for these being in Wiktionary. In the sentence "That was fun", "fun" is a noun, but in sentences such as, "We had a fun time", it has come to be parsed as an adjective. Given that it is a monosyllable, is used attributively and naturally has degrees of comparison ("that was more fun than before"; "that was the most fun time I'd ever had"), this suggests the comparative and superlative "funner" and "funnest".

Whether this is spoken or written "only as a joke" is irrelevant to whether it should be in Wiktionary - it is indeed in widespread use. "Funner" and "funnest" each have over a million hits on Google, and there are around 500 and 250 hits respectively on Google Book Search, so it is hardly a nonce word.

There is an interesting discussion of "fun" as a comparable adjective here, which makes much the same point as I have above. It suggests that these exist but are non-standard or slang. Michael Quinion knows of what he speaks, so it is safe to say that he probably has it right. "Funner" and "funnest" must therefore have a legitimate place in Wiktionary, suitably labelled, of course. — Paul G 10:19, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Added cites and a usage note with references. —Muke Tever 23:00, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. --Connel MacKenzie T C 18:08, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

rfvpassed. Andrew massyn 17:55, 17 July 2006 (UTC)