A lot if they’re about to fall off a cliff!
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Adjective order is even worse… by a considerable margin!
It’s strange, isn’t it? We are not taught at school in what order adjectives should be used. So “The big red ball” rather than “the red big ball” is not taught, but it’s what we learn, somehow, to do. Logically, either way round should be OK (and is certainly understandable), but the preference is the former.
“The large round red ball”, not “The round large red ball” - but why? And “the large red round ball” is OK - but again, why?
It is, to me, a fascinating part of ‘grammar’ - but I don’t really understand it.
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But a “French blue vase” is different from a “blue French vase”!
And “an old gold painted vase” is ambiguous.
Hmm - not sure what the difference is in the first example - probably my ignorance.
The second one - yes, it is ambiguous. But it can be disambiguated in both the written version and the spoken version:
“An old, gold-painted vase” and “An old-gold, painted vase”. Of course, you could say “A gold painted old vase”.
Adjective order is quite complex, really, isn’t it?
“A French blue vase”: the vase is of unknown origin and is French Blue in colour.
“A blue French vase”: the vase is of French origin and is coloured in an unspecified shade of Blue.
“Adjective order is quite complex, really, isn’t it?..”
Oh yes! and in speech most people would not disambiguate the “old gold painted vase”, many would not do so even in written language; furthermore, a significant number of people wouldn’t realise that there is an ambiguity in the first place (and some wouldn’t even know what ‘ambiguity’ means anyway!).
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Ah! - yes, I knew of French Grey, but not French Blue.
And you are right - I often find it hard to figure out exactly what someone means. But then, it often really doesn’t matter…
I recall that about 50 years ago, I was reprimanded for referring to “the old Ruler’s jetty”
Well, the jetty was old we were going to demolish it!
But Sheikh Zayed wasn’t old, and wasn’t impressed !
Does anyone else have a little voice in their head saying wed-nes-day when writing Wednesday?
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Yep.
And I also avoid supple-ment…
No, mine just comes up with random sh1t.
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Yes isn’t it terrible how language keeps changing all the time with old words given new meanings, new words invented to describe things that already had words of their own and the ever-irritating Young Persons talking in indeciferable code.
Chaucer must be spinning… 
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I think the voice in my head says that too. It also says ‘Feb-ru-ary’.
I know of at least two people who spell infinitely as ‘infinately’. Maybe they should get the voice in their heads to say ‘in-finite-ly’.
And definitely spelt as defiantly or definitely. 
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I suspect auto-spell corrected your last word. I assume you meant ‘definately’. I had difficulty getting my iPad to accept the incorrect spellings.
Drat! 
“definately” is wot I wrote, know wot I mean. Like.
My daughter (when quite young) had trouble pronouncing ‘abominable’. So I suggested she think “a bomb in a bull”. Seemed to work. Not for the bull, so much.
I used to think I was a child progidy. 
I have a friend who has trouble saying ‘specific’. Instead he says ‘Pacific’.
Personally I get tongue tied with ‘statistically’ and I frequently find myself challenging statistical significance. I usually end up saying “Is this sadistically significant?”
I used to think but gave it up once I realised most of the population didn’t 
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