# Grammar question--comparator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680 "2002-07-12T20:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/1 "2002-07-12T20:10:52Z")
So over on this other board where I hang out, they were having server troubles, and they posted a notice that the board was “currently experiencing slowness.” Which was pretty funny, and a few people commented on it. But it turned out that at least one person thought it was funny because “slowness” wasn’t a legitimate word. Now, I can find it in the dictionary, and I’ve heard it used, and my problem with the sentence wasn’t the word, but the odd construction. But he insisted that slowness wasn’t a real word, and that, the flexibility of English aside, one could not make a noun by merely adding -ness to a “comparator.” I had never heard this term before, and he said a comparator was “any adjective which implies a normality with which it is a variant.” Huh? A web search only turned up machines and programs that compare things. Is there such a thing as a “comparator” in English grammar, and would, say, a really picky prescriptivist have a problem with “slowness” as a legitimate word? He says he taught English at one time and is pretty insistent, and is generally pretty intelligent–is my education deficient somehow? What gives? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/2 "2002-07-12T20:35:25Z")
I don’t seen anything wrong with “slowness”. You could compare the relative slowness of two turtles for example. I think your co-poster is getting his panties in a wad over nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/3 "2002-07-12T20:35:33Z")
Well, his definition of “comparator” seems like a reasonable one… I can absolutely say, for instance, that a person or animal is “male”, without comparison to anything else, but if I say that something is “slow”, I have to ask “compared to what?”. So, one could certainly argue that “male” and “slow”, both adjectives, nonetheless belong to different categories of adjectives. I don’t see, though, why the -ness suffix would be invalid with a comparator… For a computer to be “currently experiencing slowness” obviously means that it’s currently running more slowly than it or comparable computers usually does. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/4 "2002-07-12T22:27:53Z")
His usage of _comparator_ appear to be correct, though I’ve never heard it before. The OED defines it as: > [@](#): > > An instrument for comparing, e.g. the lengths of nearly equal bars. Hence, any of various devices which measure or otherwise check manufactured articles, or the output or performance of a machine, etc., by comparison with a standard. It’s that “comparison with a standard” bit that makes it work. As for _slowness_, the OED has it as a word going back to the 1300s, so he has a lot of history to fight against. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/5 "2002-07-12T22:59:54Z")
The word you are looking for is _comparative._ Its complement is _superlative_. For example: Good = normal Better = comparative Best = superlative And FWIW, this copyeditor would accept “slowness.” ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/6 "2002-07-12T23:19:12Z")
Scarlett67 wrote: > [@](#): > > The word you are looking for is comparative. Its complement is superlative. Ah, that makes sense! Comparative and superlative I had heard of. But in that case, “slow” wouldn’t be a comparative–“slower” would be. And “slowerness” would indeed be a bit odd, but that’s not the word he was protesting. JeffB wrote: > [@](#): > > His usage of comparator appear to be correct, though I’ve never heard it before. The OED defines it as: > > ## quote: > > ## An instrument for comparing, e.g. the lengths of nearly equal bars. Hence, any of various devices which measure or otherwise check manufactured articles, or the output or performance of a machine, etc., by comparison with a standard. > > It’s that “comparison with a standard” bit that makes it work. I’m reading that “by comparison with a standard” as modifying the part before–that it’s an instrument that measures or checks by comparing with a standard. It doesn’t seem to work for describing words. And thanks for the OED check for me–obviously “slowness” isn’t some recent, barbaric innovation. And thanks, all, for putting my mind to rest about the supposed oddness of “slowness.” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/7 "2002-07-13T01:40:35Z")
Comparator is probably linguistic jargon. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/8 "2002-07-13T03:13:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*The word you are looking for is _comparative._ Its complement is _superlative_. For example: > > Good = normal > Better = comparative > Best = superlative > > And FWIW, this copyeditor would accept “slowness.” \*\* **copy editor**. 😉 :beats a retreat: ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/9 "2002-07-13T15:51:10Z")
Actually the first (a.k.a “normal”) form of an adjective is called the “Descriptive.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/10 "2002-07-13T20:48:06Z")
How is slowness the comparitive form of slow? Slower is the comparative, slowest is the superlative. But slowness is a different form of the word. The form of the sentence is awkward, but colloquial. “The board is currently experiencing slow posting times” would be more formally correct, he said in the comparative. I’ve never heard of comparator, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/11 "2002-07-13T21:45:54Z")
I understand the OP’s friend to mean that a _comparator_ is an adjective which can have a _comparative_ form. So “slow” is a comparator, since “slower” is a word, but “male” is not a comparator, since “maler” isn’t a word. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/12 "2002-07-13T22:02:09Z")
Chronos said: > [@](#): > > I understand the OP’s friend to mean that a comparator is an adjective which can have a comparative form. So “slow” is a comparator, since “slower” is a word, but “male” is not a comparator, since “maler” isn’t a word. That’s what I understood too, although I had never heard the term before, which is what confused me. I did a search for “comparator linguistics” and “comparator grammar” and got a bunch of computer language stuff, but nothing for English grammar. Has anybody ever heard of comparator used as a term for a particular kind of adjective? Is this distinction even made? That’s what I’m wondering now–is this some sort of term that I’ve forgotten from school, or is really obscure, or somehow I failed to learn and should have? Or did he missllep something else? Or was he just off in outer space when he wrote that and doesn’t want to back down? Like I said, he’s normally a perfectly intelligent and nice guy, but it’s bugging me that I have no idea what he’s talking about here. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/13 "2002-07-14T08:10:15Z")
I have read a lot of linguistics (even once published a paper in the journal Theoretical Linguistics) and I have never heard the term. Nonetheless, it makes sense to have a word that describes an adjective whose meaning makes sense only in terms of a comparison with something else and slow, small, etc. would seem to qualify. On the other hand, I see no problem with smallness, although it sounds unusual. I have always wanted it to be sloth–or slowth. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/14 "2002-07-14T13:33:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\* > > **copy editor**. > > 😉 > > :beats a retreat: \*\* OK, smartass. Now you’re gonna get it! :: **Scarlett** whacks **dantheman** with her MW3 unabridged :: 😃 I follow the logic of the queen of copyediting, Karen Judd, who is the author of a very highly regarded guide for copyeditors. In Chapter 1 she writes (I paraphrase, but I but I have it verbatim): “A copy editor edits copy. A copyeditor copyedits copy.” There are many ways to edit text, and copyediting is a specific approach, with a specific goal (although it can have different levels: light, medium, heavy). ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question-comparator/118680/15 "2002-07-14T14:40:51Z")
MW had it as two words, and for our publications, that’s the golden rule. 🙂 > [@](#): > > Main Entry: copy editor > Function: noun > Date: 1899 > : an editor who prepares copy for the printer; also : one who edits and headlines newspaper copy Now, as far as I’m concerned, this is a word/phrase that can be either one or two, depending on the style of the publication - and of course, assuming it’s used as such consistently throughout. Of course, saying someone “copyedits copy” is redundant and not particularly good writing, IMO. 🙂