Timeline for Is "less good" acceptable?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 16, 2015 at 8:32 | comment | added | NibblyPig | I feel that in the UK we'd not say less good, but instead say not as good as. I can't think of any situation I'd say X is less good than Y. | |
| Oct 15, 2015 at 15:19 | comment | added | the other one | I disagree that you automatically mean that if something is worse than something else then it is bad however the word "Worse" certainly does carry negative connotations which could put people in a negative frame of mind... but then saying a is less good than b is also sounds rather negative compared to b is better than a, however not to the same extent as worse. | |
| Oct 15, 2015 at 13:45 | comment | added | User1000547 | I think the phrase "less good" is semantically similar to the widely accepted "not unlike". If something is not unlike something else, it's not really like that thing but it's also not accurate to say it's different. If some is "less good" than something else, It's not _as good as that thing, but it's also not bad. | |
| Oct 15, 2015 at 10:05 | comment | added | TripeHound | Not common, but definitely acceptable. I think a better use of "less good" comes not when comparing two things (as most of the examples have) but when comparing two changes from a "current thing"... Starting from "plain pancakes are OK", you can then say "pancakes with butter and syrup are good" and "pancakes with butter are less good". Both changes are an improvement (hence worse could have the wrong connotation), but one isn't as good an improvement as the other. (There are, of course, several other ways of phrasing this avoiding "less good", e.g. "not as good"). | |
| Oct 15, 2015 at 3:52 | comment | added | David Z | The implication of this answer is that "less good" is acceptable. I agree that the answer would be a lot better if it said so explicitly. But I also agree with the main point of the answer, that there is a difference in connotation between "less good" and "worse" - I'm not sure if it is supported by official resources, but it is supported by practical usage, as far as I'm familiar with it at least. | |
| Oct 15, 2015 at 1:44 | comment | added | Drew | The OP did not ask what the differences are between worse and less good. the question is whether less good is "acceptable". | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 22:44 | comment | added | LSpice | I think that @alephzero's last sentence hits the nail on the head: "pancakes with garbage and sewer water taste bad, but pancakes with garbage taste less bad" is perfectly fine (if unpalatable), while "pancakes with garbage taste better than pancakes with garbage and sewer water" just sounds wrong—at least to me. | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 22:08 | comment | added | dwjohnston |
Great example, I was having trouble thinking of that was acceptable. But to be fair, I think a less clumsy wording would be Pancakes with butter taste good, but not as good as pancakes with butter and syrup, ala Jacinto's answer.
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| Oct 14, 2015 at 21:54 | comment | added | alephzero | For example, if you run a 100m dash in 10 seconds flat, then 10.05, then 10.10... That is why your athletics coach would probably make the encouraging remark that 10.10 was "less good" than your personal best time, not the discouraging remark that "your times were getting worse and worse". There is a similar difference between "less bad" and "better". | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 20:08 | comment | added | TylerH | @AcidShout probably for the same reason I disagree with it; "worse" doesn't mean inherently or objectively "bad"... it is comparative. For example, if you run a 100m dash in 10 seconds flat, then 10.05, then 10.10, you are getting worse and worse, but that is still very fast/*good*. | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 16:23 | comment | added | rev | @GEdgar why do you say so? | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 16:07 | comment | added | GEdgar | I disagree with this analysis. | |
| Oct 14, 2015 at 15:46 | history | answered | jejorda2 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |