Toe in the Water

Gripe of the Day

Gripe of the Day

There is no such thing as “very unique.” The word “unique” means “the only one of its kind.” Which means, of course, that it cannot have a competitor that is slightly more unique. That would be like saying, “Oh yes, this here stands alone above all else. Except that there’s one over there that is better.” You cannot grade uniqueness; if something is the sole example, nothing else can be. To say that something is “very unique” is to say that it’s the only, only one. There’s a word for that and the word is “redundant.”

Let’s stop robbing words of their power. The word “unique” should be rarely used because it is extremely uncommon for anything to be so much better than its peers that it eclipses all of them. “Awesome” should also be almost extinct nowadays, since we are so jaded that nothing fills us with awe anymore. And may the phrase “way, shape or form” be made a criminal offence; any one of those three words means all that you’re trying to say.


Word count: 176