4 ms·
The thing with English grammar is that it's very malleable. And exception-ridden. In this particular case, the specificity of what you're describing is importan
by signal11 6y ago
The thing with English grammar is that it's very malleable. And exception-ridden. In this particular case, the specificity of what you're describing is important as well.
> absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife
For instance, "An expensive, peaty fifteen year old Scotch" is a potential counter-example, because [fifteen year old scotch] is the specific item you're talking about.
"Barman, a peaty large|double Scotch for me please" would also be a counterexample, I think, because the key here is that you want a [large|double Scotch]. Large and Double are both size descriptors for a bar drink in different parts of the world.
And I'm not seeing why "I received a hand-painted wooden Native-American jewellery box as a present" would somehow be wrong, if I wanted to emphasize the origin, over "I received a hand-painted Native-American wooden jewellery box as a present".
- tgv 6y agoAnd Scotch too is an adjective, of origin. But since you never separate it from the head noun (the omitted whiskey), it will always come last. Writing grammar rules is obsessing over a few phrases, and declaring everything that doesn't follow the pattern you've found in those an exception.
- nemo44x 6y agoI feel like “wooden” sounds more natural before “hand-painted”.
- Cerium 6y agoAgreed, but following the rule produces a good sentence. These adjectives are only origin and material, so "a Native American hand painted wooden jewelry box" seems perfectly fine to me.