Fun, funner, funnest

Fun, funner, funnest: One of these words is not like the others; one of these words is okay to say.

Anyone who likes to do fun things (i.e. anyone that isn’t boring) has at some time in their life probably said something along the lines of: “Oh, that vacation skiing was way funner than the time I went scuba diving”. Ok, stop right there, fun person. Funner isn’t a word.

While most people will forgive and forget, I will educate you on the reason why you really shouldn’t say it: –er and –est  are superlative, and therefore cannot be attached to a noun. It’s like saying that since my dog is bigger and furrier than a Chihuahua, it’s dogger than the tiny pipsqueak that is smaller than some books I own. (I understand that no one in their right mind would ever say that one dog is dogger than another, but it is a very clear example of why we don’t put superlative endings on nouns.) Dogger doesn’t make sense, so neither should funner. If you want something you say to convey that you enjoyed yourself more with thing A than thing B, you should say “Oh, that vacation skiing was way more fun than the time I went scuba diving.” See, much better.

I truly hope that you will share this with anyone who says funner. In fact, print it on fliers, coffee mugs, t-shirts or anything else that would spread the word.  We NEED to end the reign of the –er nouns, and I enlist your aid in doing so.

Have a great day and remember to share!

(270 words)