Submitted 3 weeks ago by neidu2@feddit.nl to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Native English speakers… I hear the order of adjectives is important, and getting this wrong is jarring to read.
I’m making a pitch to upper management about building a “modular and versatile thingamawidget”. Or is it "modular and versatile thingamawidget?
Neither sounds “wrong” to my ear, but if I had to pick one, hmmmm…I think modular things are inherently versatile, but versatile things aren’t inherently modular, so I would go with “versatile and modular” so it gets more specific from first word to second word.
Or consider not using both those words.
I tend to agree with you. Plus, with this particular thing, it’s possible to build to to be versatile and not modular, or the other way around. Or neither (which we’re using now)
The latter is correct.
English has a fixed adjective order:
Determiner Quantity Opinion Size Age Shape Color Origin/Material Qualifier
“Versatile” is an opinion and “modular” is a qualifier.
“The single, versatile, large, new, round, blue, local, modular thingamawidget.”
“I present to you: the SVeLNeRBLoMT”
To my ear, modular and versatile are so similar that I wouldn’t connect them with “and”.
Also, versatile without any more context is devoid of meaning.
Hard to say without more info, but my instinct is, it would sound nicer to pitch a “modular thingamawidget” and explain its versatility in another sentence or a subordinate clause.
There’s a lot of context that I cannot share without making it a two week course in what I do for a living, but to put it simply, both versatility and modularity are descriptors that make sense together for the intended audience, as the system can be one without the other.
In that case, I think the whole question is moot. The umbrella term of thingamawidget is not both modular and versatile, but its constituent parts are individually. “The thingamawidget with versatile software and modular hardware is…” would then be the more accurate description.
Otherwise it’s like describing a brownie as wet and bitter because the egg is wet and the raw cocoa is bitter.
Putting the shortest word first sounds better.
‘Men and women’ is the usual order, as is ‘ladies and gentlemen.’
I’d go with modular first. imho
*Quantity *Opinion *Size *Age *Shape *Color *Origin/Material *Qualifier
‘versatile’ is an opinion. it would go first.
Heh, that made me realize that the trademark of the system we’re currently using, which is abbreviated into four letters, should have the first three in the opposite order.
It’s not uncommon to change the order for branding. It makes people notice it more – even though they’re noticing it because it “feels” incorrect, it tends to force a reader’s attention. Alternatively, it might be a non-english company.
What system? Lemmy? ActivityPub? Neither are 4 letter acronyms
I would say modular and versatile. Other one sounds off, but not in a critical way.
In this case the only rule I believe there is, is the prose. What sounds better when read out loud?
Kethal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Although there is a common adjective order, it’s not always clear which category a word belongs in. People insisting that the words “modular” and “versitile” fit into whatever category they chose are presenting a lot more certainty than is warranted. I am a native speaker, and either order sounds fine in this case.