Re: Terms of Endearment

Chris writes:

>I guess it is perhaps wider than I thought, sorry.... but it is
>restricted in someways because you can't use most adjectives to mean
>something or someone which has the property singly, like you couldn't
>say "the small" for "the small person". Sorry for the mistake lol.
This may fall under the heading of regional usage, but in my
idiolect, color words can also be used this way sometimes:

Which dress do you prefer, the green or the pink?
I think I prefer the green.

This does not detract from your point, of course. English does use
this less than other Euro-counterparts. We're often obliged to stick
"one" at the end of such expressions.

Which dress do you prefer, the green (one) or the pink (one)?
I think I prefer the green (one).

I haven't thought it completely through, but I think even "one" might
sound weird when referring to people.

Kou

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