Ouch! Missed Lizard’s and Canvas Shoes’ post, sorry!
Q
There was a movie based on a book with the title “Semi-Tough” which had a scale from 1-10 (surprise!) but instead of numbers they used descriptives. I can’t remember them all but I believe a 9 was Semi-Tough, with the idea that there never had been nor never would be a true 10.
Others IIRC included Stove, Stovette, Dirty Leg, Running Sore.
I can’t help but wonder how cool has somehow morphed into hot in some usages.