# "commonest"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 7, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002 "2003-04-07T04:34:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![1whopontificates](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/b782af/32.png) [@1whopontificates](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1whopontificates)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002/1 "2003-04-07T04:34:13Z")

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I was reading along in one of Cecil’s columns (“[Do bathtubs drain counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_161.html)”) when I came across the final paragraph and read:

> [@](#):
>
> Yet next to the mystery of where all the baby pigeons are, this remains the commonest question I get.

Commonest? _Commonest?_ It made me cringe. I wouldn’t call it a mistake, per se, and perhaps Cecil meant to use it in jest; however, perhaps “most common” would’ve fit nicely.

Just my 2 sense…

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002/2 "2003-04-07T09:32:42Z")

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Well, I wouldn’t call it a mistake _per se_, and I wouldn’t call it a mistake _at all_. Nothing personal, but I think that’s really more your problem than it is Cecil’s. 🙂 [[Dictionary.com cite](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=common)] You’re probably one of those people who doesn’t like hearing _funnest_. 😛

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**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002/3 "2003-04-07T11:39:04Z")

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Methinks this is getting curiouser and curiouser.

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**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002/4 "2003-04-07T12:46:54Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by 1whopontificates \*  
> \*\*I was reading along in one of Cecil’s columns (“[Do bathtubs drain counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_161.html)”) when I came across the final paragraph and read:  
> Commonest? _Commonest?_ It made me cringe. I wouldn’t call it a mistake, per se, and perhaps Cecil meant to use it in jest; however, perhaps “most common” would’ve fit nicely.
> 
> Just my 2 sense… \*\*

your _2 sense…_ ?

you mean 2 **cents…**

you’ve made ME cringe now…

🙂

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**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonest/167002/5 "2003-04-07T14:26:19Z")

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dear lordliest ! I speak Christopher, not English !