June 14, 2007

Top corrupt as in top terror

One of the reporters once asked one of the editors why the phrase 'top corrupt' he had written the previous night was changed to 'most corrupt' in the copy published that morning. The reporter likened the use of 'top corrupt' to 'top terror' as a defence. Yes, but they are not the same. First, 'terror' is a noun and 'corrupt' an adjective. And using 'most corrupt' does not change the meaning as only the most corrupt will top the list of corruption suspects, not corrupt suspects, which is certainly wrong, or suspected corrupt, which is also wrong.

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