proportional absolutes: is this grammatically acceptable?

[Dracon II]

I was reading a news article today which used a type of word combination that struck as simultaneously strange and yet, commonplace.

The words were: "more uncontrollable".

Uncontrollable seems to me to denote an absolute state of affairs. I mean absolute in the sense that it does not denote a limited degree of control or uncontrollability... it is plainly an simply "uncontrollable". So is it correct to contextualize give a limited proportion to such a word by adding the term "more" or "less" before it? Or is there another way of expressing this?

[Winston]

I would agree. The author could have used the phrase 'less controllable' instead, or synonyms for uncontrollable - like chaotic, unruly, wild etc., depending on the context. But 'more uncontrollable' is very poor form.

[SlowwHand]

I disagree. Let me tell you why.
Winston is uncontrollable. Sava, is even more uncontrollable.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.

[Winston]

It's not working, SlowwHand. You can say it, but logically, it doesn't make any sense.

Try substituting 'braindead'. You can still say it (it'll earn you a smacking, but hey!), but it shows a terrible command of the language if you ponder it for just a while.

[Kull]

Originally posted by Winston
It's not working, SlowwHand. You can say it, but logically, it doesn't make any sense.

Correct. A better example would be Katrina and any garden variety thunderstorm. Both are clearly uncontrollable (at least by man), but one is just as obviously far worse than the other.

[Urban Ranger]

Grammatically it is correct, however that doesn't mean it has to make sense.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Grammatically it is correct, however that doesn't mean it has to make sense.

Actually, I think it's exactly the opposite -- it makes sense (that is, we know what is meant), but it's not grammatically correct.

(And I have to say, the comparative "more unique" is something I hear all the time, and it makes my skin crawl...)

[Urban Ranger]

Back to the OP.

I agree that "controllablility" (is there such a word) is a binary condition. That is, something can either be controlled or it cannot. It is a black and white situation.

It's like dead. An organism can be either dead or live, but there's nothing like more dead. AFAIK, nothing in the grammar prevents you from writing "more dead," but it is meaningless.

[Dracon II]

I should qualify my my initial post by noting that I took that example from The People's Daily (Chinese State News website)... so it may just be engrish. But I have definitely heard people saying similar things before...

[Frozzy]

"He becomes more and more unqualified for the job every day..." This implies that the negatives are rising. "He becomes less and less qualified for the job every say" This implies the positives are becoming less and less. The latter still retains a small degree of positiveness about it, whiole the latter is completely negative.

[Dauphin]

If you understand what the words mean and the expression is fairly common place but makes no sense if 'analysed' then I would guess it constitutes an idiom.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Back to the OP.

I agree that "controllablility" (is there such a word) is a binary condition. That is, something can either be controlled or it cannot. It is a black and white situation.

You can control parts of a situation, so why not have a situation where you lose more control over it? If something becomes 'more uncontrolled' you must have been using hyperbole in the first instance.

When people are discussing natural disasters their 'controllability' is usually in respect of the consequences, not the event itself.

[Winston]

But we're talking about uncontrollable, not uncontrolled, Dauphin.

Something is either uncontrollable, or it isn't.

[Dauphin]

That doesn't change my point.

Parts of a situation may be controllable, others not, so why can't a situation be partly controllable? Parts that are controllable may become uncontrollable or vice versa. In total the sitution can become more or less controllable.

[Frozzy]

But less controllable implies there is still some semblance of control. More uncontrollable implies there is no control already.