[Dixielandjazz] Most Unique humbug? Or maybe not!

[Stephen G Barbone]

> From: Don Ingle <cornet at 1010internet.com>
>
> The thing that rankles about using "most unique" has nothing to do  
> with
> Jazz. It is the simple misuse of the word "unique."
> "Unique means "one of a kind," therefore singular, unlike anything  
> else.
> it is like being pregnant - "you either is or you ain't!"
> Unique needs no adjective, scale of comparison, or other modifying
> embellishment. It stands on its own. Yet it is among
> the most abused words in the English language.
> No matter where used or applied or in what circumstance it occurs,  
> if it
> is unique you've said all that needs to be said.
> Don Ingle (unique heard misused earlier today on NBC news broadcast  
> by a
> "talking head" of supposed great reporting skill) and it indeed  
> rankled me!!

Dear Don

Most of us oldsters (but not me)  probably follow your and Jerry's view.

However see the following definition in the American Heritage  
Dictionary. Read especially the "Usage Note" and that portion which I  
have Capitalized for emphasis. This usage, now fairly common, is what  
Jerry warns us might happen.  "Might happen" no longer applies. It has  
already happened.

(yo͞o-nēkˈ)

adjective
Being the only one of its kind: the unique existing example of Donne's  
handwriting.
Without an equal or equivalent; unparalleled.
a. Characteristic of a particular category, condition, or locality: a  
problem unique to coastal areas.
b. Informal Unusual; extraordinary: spoke with a unique accent.
Related Forms:

u·niqueˈly adverb
u·niqueˈness noun
Usage Note: For many grammarians, unique is the paradigmatic absolute  
term, a shibboleth that distinguishes between those who understand  
that such a term cannot be modified by an adverb of degree or a  
comparative adverb and those who do not. These grammarians would say  
that a thing is either unique or not unique and that it is therefore  
incorrect to say that something is very uniqueor more unique than  
something else. Most of the Usage Panel supports this traditional  
view. Eighty percent disapprove of the sentence Her designs are quite  
unique in today's fashions. But as the language of advertising in  
particular attests, UNIQUE  IS WIDELY USED AS A SYNONYM FOR "WORTHY OF  
BEING CONSIDERED IN A CLASS BY ITSELF, EXTRAORDINARY," AND IF SO  
CONSTRUED IT MAY ARGUABLY BE MODIFIED. IN FACT, UNIQUE APPEARS AS A  
MODIFIED ADJECTIVE IN THE WORK OF MANY REPUTABLE WRITERS. A TRAVEL  
WRITER STATES THAT "CHICAGO IS NO LESS UNIQUE AN AMERICAN CITY THAN  
NEW YORK OR SAN FRANCISCO," FOR EXAMPLE , AND THE CRITIC FREDRIC  
JAMESON WRITES " THE GREAT MODERN WRITERS HAVE ALL BEEN DEFINED BY THE  
INVENTION OR PRODUCTION OF RATHER UNIQUE STYLES." ALTHOUGH THESE  
EXAMPLES OF THE QUALIFICATION OF UNIQUE ARE DEFENSIBLE, WRITERS SHOULD  
BE AWARE THAT SUCH CONSTRUCTIONS ARE LIABLE TO INCUR THE WRATH OF SOME  
READERS.


Therefore is would seem to me that the writer of the press release  
that started this thread, was fully is correct, usage wise in saying:   
"It's the most unique thing that we may hear musically for a long time."

At least according to the American Heritage Dictionary, that is. VBG.  
And note also that the Webster New World College Dictionary agrees  
also with their definition 3.

eg. Definition 3 - Highly unusual, extraordinary, rare, etc.: a common  
usage still objected to by some.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband