I definitely did not watch Highlander before making this strip.
You know how some words look really weird after you stare at them for a while? Unique is one of them, ironically*. YOO-NI-KWA…UN-EYE-KAY…I need some sleep. I should mention that although there are no degrees of uniqueness, you can have more unique characteristics than something else. For instance, the blue X has one unique quality, but the pink X has three (pink, bold, and underlined): XXXXXXXXX. Somewhat relevant and interesting: are snowflakes actually unique?
When I told my girlfriend I made a panel with eleven characters that were the same, she said, “I’m sure they’d beg to differ.” :) Anyway, this really isn’t a word I correct people on. We all know what they mean, and it’s a pretty minor error.
* Ironic that it’s just like the rest. Someone call me out on the definition of ironic, I dare you.
Unique Quiz
Which ones are correct, if any? Post your answers in the comments!
- I love my skunk, but your wombat is more unique!
- Cloud Gate makes Chicago unique.
- I love Mitch Hedberg, he had such a unique brand of comedy.
- The most unique thing about George is that his car used to be owned by Jon Voight.
Direct link for embedding: http://www.grammarcomic.com/files/grammar-block-003-unique.jpg
3 Responses to “A Unique Joke”
surgeon
1. Incorrect. A wombat cannot be more unique that a skunk, because a skunk is not unique, and nothing can be more unique than anything else. (unless speaking informally, which we are not. this is a quiz. get with it.) However, this sentiment could be communicated, still using the word unique: Froyo was unusual in her apartment complex for keeping a skunk as a pet. However, her neighbor Dago was more frequently noticed for her pet, a wombat, which was considered unique in such a dense american city.
Now of course, can we prove there were no other pet wombats in the entire city? or in the apartment building? Probably not. But that doesn’t matter. It was considered unique because it is a rare occurrence given the parameters. The usage of unique if used not in the absolute, which is how we must use it in all modern usage, unless speaking of math or the last remaining sea scroll.
2. Technically correct. But a clumsy and arguable sentence. Because unique in this case has to do with an art piece, which is one of a kind, but that artist has other work in other cities. Chicago is unique only for possessing that specific art piece. Which reduces Chicago solely to the property owner and the the magnificent city one may be trying to convey with a sentence like that. Many cities have remarkable works of art, even by the same artist. And the definition of unique as something one of a kind does not apply to chicago in this case. It is a technical definition, when you demand total adherence to the “there is only one” definition of the word. Which removes all power and romance from the usage of the word. For instance, the dogshit icicles make the penthouse unique. A better way to say it perhaps, would be to say “The cloud gate is unique to Chicago.”
3. Nominally correct. It is a subjective judgement of a comedic style. To the person who is saying this, it can be quite true. But that person is not saying that nowhere else on earth is there someone with a similar or comparable style. Simply that something about this comedian made him unique at one point. Uniqueness is deeply affected by the audience, the passage of time, and changing scope. What was unique is often no longer unique. What was once in abundance, becomes unique when there is only one left, or only one left in this condition, or only one left in this color, in this country, in this kitchen, at the bottom of the wine bottle I’m looking in. In the more commonly used versions of unique-when applied to things like the way a person smiles, or their brand of humor we are dealing with the “informal” unique. Which does, in fact, in colloquial usage mean highly unusual or rare. Limited in occurrence is a widely accepted use of the word unique. Words are living things, and change with the times. Sadly, the word unique is not unique in its widely accepted and modified meanings.
4. Gross, and wrong. Tell George he is not a beautiful and unique snowflake, and that his car is pretty crappy, and the fact that Jon Voight owned it before you just makes it worse. If someone who you think loves you wrote that about you, they really hate you. Break up with them.
Tommy Gun
I didn’t think it needed to be said, but the quizzes ask if the sentences are grammatically correct, not factually. But your method is interesting too. :) I’m not going to post my answers to the quiz, but:
I disagree; I think there is a middle ground. Using my “pink X” example above, you can say the pink X is unique in its group. Do other pink things exist in the world? Of course. But not in the group of things we’re comparing it to.
May I point you towards the disclaimer? (In the “About” menu.)
JohnnyW
Like how this is progressing. This is the best one by far, so far… On to number 4!