If I wrote "exceptional bad service" and "exceptionally bad service", is this the same?
- If not what's the difference in meaning?
- Is it a clear mistake?
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"Exceptional" is an adjective, and can't modify another adjective, so it modifies the noun instead. – Hot Licks Feb 14 '21 at 14:15
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1Exceptional on its own usually implies 'exceptionally good', so 'exceptional bad' sounds like a contradiction in terms. – Kate Bunting Feb 14 '21 at 14:59
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1"Exceptional bad service" ... normally the service is good, but this in an exception when the service was bad. "Exceptionally bad service" ... very bad service, not merely bad but so bad it is beyond ordinary badness. – GEdgar Feb 14 '21 at 14:59
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Does this answer your question? Why has Southern US English all but abandoned adverb forms? Flat adverbs (and modifiers-of-adjectives for those of us who dislike the traditional dustbinning) including this example: "Old John of Gaunt is grievous sick, my lord" — King Richard II, Act I, Sc. IV. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 14 '21 at 15:38
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It sounds like a mistake to me. I've not heard it in US parlance or my sampling of Brit TV. – FeliniusRex - gone Feb 15 '21 at 13:55