A vocabulary question.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:06 pm

The "bones thread" prompted me to do some reading on the history of minstrel shows, which ultimately led to me getting sidetracked onto the subject of Vaudeville and other things, and I was reading an article that used a word I don't recall having heard. Admittedly, I may be a yokel, and this may be standard English, but to my ears it doesn't sound right. I could have consulted a dictionary, but decided to just ask it here. Is unhappier a proper word?

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:10 pm

Sounds like it should be to me, and dictionary.com accepted it:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unhappier

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:12 pm

avanutria wrote:Sounds like it should be to me, and dictionary.com accepted it:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unhappier

Does it mean not happier?

moxy · Post by **moxy** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:15 pm

Or does it mean "even less happy than another who is unhappy"?

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:17 pm

More unhappy?

The BBC says Bullies are even unhappier than their victims.
The New York Lawyer says that Americans in 2002 were unhappier at work.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:33 pm

He just kept getting happier and happier, but one day nothing delightful happened, so he got a little unhappier, till the next day when he got happier, still.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:35 pm

I don't see why "unhappier" would be an incorrecter choice than any other.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:49 pm

Nanohedron wrote:I don't see why "unhappier" would be an incorrecter choice than any other.

Less untruer words could scarce be spoken.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:51 pm

Walden wrote:He just kept getting happier and happier, but one day nothing delightful happened, so he got a little unhappier, till the next day when he got happier, still.

Adam was unhappy because his dog died. Bertram was unhappy because his cat had diarrhea. Both Adam and Betram were unhappy. But Bertram was unhappier than Adam because his wife ran off with a Canadian.

I think unhappier will be avoided by careful writers. It is the negation of "happier" not the comparative of "unhappy," which would be "more unhappy." That form is exceedly ugly, and the best thing is to scratch the sentence and to start over. Avoiding "happy" altogether will improve the sentence and the thought, imho.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:01 pm

That being said, I find "unhappier" to have a decidedly Shakespearean ring to it.

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:11 pm

I think the PC version of that is misunhappy or maybe misunderhappiated. Dishappy? Malhappy? Happyless?

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:33 pm

I too would be unsadder if I just recast the sentence.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:38 pm

vomitbunny wrote:I think the PC version of that is misunhappy or maybe misunderhappiated. Dishappy? Malhappy? Happyless?

It's "special happiness." Albert had just lost his job. His car had been stolen. His doctor had told him that he had cancer. The bank was foreclosing on his house. And he was fresh out of beer. Albert was a special-happiness person.

moxy · Post by **moxy** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:41 pm

Bloomfield wrote:But Bertram was unhappier than Adam because his wife ran off with a Canadian.

That makes absolutely no sense... "unhappier" is really not the correct word.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 2:12 pm

Bloomfield wrote:
vomitbunny wrote:I think the PC version of that is misunhappy or maybe misunderhappiated. Dishappy? Malhappy? Happyless?
It's "special happiness." Albert had just lost his job. His car had been stolen. His doctor had told him that he had cancer. The bank was foreclosing on his house. And he was fresh out of beer. Albert was a special-happiness person.

In this day and age, Albert would be "happiness challenged"- no?

Tom