Whatever Happened to ER?

I’d love to be blogging about George Clooney and ER, the TV series that became the longest-running primetime medical drama in U.S. history, but that would be way too fun and interesting. No, today I’m talking about the no-caps suffix “er” -- as in “simpler” -- which stars in the even longer-running English adjective series “simple, simpler, simplest.”

More and more often, I see headlines that read: “Find a More Simple Lifestyle.” After I freak out a little, my saner half is prone to tell me just to move on and quit reading ad headlines (not even within the realm of possibility for a copywriter like me). Besides, these days, even the seemingly erudite intellectuals on NPR often seem to forget “er” and say “more pretty” rather than “prettier.” And don’t even get me started on Twitter.

Turns out, as in most parts of life, there are rules.

According to Grammar Girl, you can use "more" or "most" in front of the adjective (for example, more wonderful). Or you can use the suffixes "-er" or "-est" on the end of the adjective. The one you choose depends on the number of syllables.

--For one-syllable adjectives, use "-er" or "est."
--For three or more syllables, use "more" or "most."

What about two-syllable adjectives? It's a bit arbitrary. Go to this post to read all about two-syllable exceptions, disclaimers and irregularities: Grammar Girl

Which only leaves one question about today's most popular two-syllable word "awesome." Is it awesomer, awesomist, more awesome or most awesome? Or better, yet, how about we stop calling every little thing "AWESOME!" at all. Pretty please?