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I teach English, and regularly introduce students to "OSASCOMP", the mnemonic to help them with the "royal order of adjectives".

This is fine, for adjectives in the categories described by this rule (opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose), but one question has stumped me. How do we determine adjective order, for multiple adjectives within the same category?

If I refer to my "fabulous, amazing, beautiful husband", will he be bowled over by the compliment, or aghast at my grammar?

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  • Fine? 'Who's afraid of the bad, big wolf?'? A dumb big booster?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    May 16, 2021 at 15:50

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Being bowled over by the compliment and aghast at the grammar do not seem to be mutually exclusive. But adjectives from many of the OSASCOMP categories are indeed mutually exclusive.

Take size and material for example. You cannot have a big, little box or a leather, woollen jacket. So the question about the order of adjectives within such categories generally does not arise.

But opinion adjectives such as fabulous, amazing, beautiful are not mutually exclusive (although they may be synonymous). And they can be arranged in any order you like.

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