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Superior

I've officially had it recently with the way I noticed on N4G and gaming journalism on the whole which has whole-heartedly accepted the use of the word 'superior' into vocabulary, the whole console wars and just general flamebait. I tell you what, I have a great idea, lets have a look what 'superior' means outside of the recent gaming journalism world.

^_superior

^_Adjective

^{_{1. greater in quality, quantity, or usefulness}}

^{_{2. higher in rank, position, or status: he was reprimanded by a superior officer}}

^{_{3. believing oneself to be better than others}}

^{_{4. of very high quality or respectability: superior merchandise}}

^{_{5. Formal placed higher up: damage to the superior surface of the wing}}

^{_{6. Printing (of a character) written or printed above the line}}

^_Noun

^{_{1. a person of greater rank or status}}

^{_{2. See mother superior [Latin superus placed above]}}

^{_{superiority n}}

^{_{USAGE: Superior should not be used with than: he is a better (not a superior) poet than his brother; his poetry is superior to (not superior than) his brother's.}}

^{_{Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006}}

Of course we all know that deep down, on N4G and pretty much everywhere else gaming journalism related that 'superior' means; 'Mines better than yours'.
Having 'superior' thrown around in these petty arguments in N4G comment boxes relating to consoles and gaming engines doesn't mean a single little thing. In fact, saying 'superior' is probably 'inferior' and it probably just makes you feel better thinking something you put your faith and support in is better than something else that exists, the sad thing is, recently this type of wording and vocabulary is spreading into everyday gaming journalism and in my opinion, its beginning to making gaming journalism a joke.
Lets have a look at the old Thesaurus and see what that has to say about 'superior'.

_^superior

_{^{adjective 1. better, higher, greater, grander, preferred, prevailing, paramount, surpassing, more advanced, predominant, unrivalled, more extensive, more skilful, more expert, a cut above (informal) streets ahead (informal) running rings around (informal) << OPPOSITE inferior}}

_{^{adjective 2. first-class, excellent, first-rate, good, fine, choice, exclusive, distinguished, exceptional, world-class, good quality, admirable, high-class, high calibre, de luxe, of the first order, booshit Austral. (slang) exo Austral. (slang) sik Austral. (slang) rad (informal) phat (slang) schmick Austral. (informal) << OPPOSITE average}}

_{^{adjective 3. higher-ranking, senior, higher-level, upper-level}}

_{^{adjective 4. supercilious, patronizing, condescending, haughty, disdainful, lordly, lofty, airy, pretentious, stuck-up (informal) snobbish, on your high horse (informal)}}

_{^{noun 5. boss, senior, director, manager, chief (informal) principal, supervisor, baas S. African sherang Austral., N.Z. << OPPOSITE subordinate}}

_{^{USAGE Superior should not be used with than: he is a better (not a superior) poet than his brother; his poetry is superior to (not than) his brother's.}}

_{^{Collins Essential Thesaurus 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2005, 2006}}

Now I ask; Why exactly do people choose to use this wording? After all, when I think 'superior' as an adjective, I think of something on a much higher level than us, such as the concept as a 'superior being'.

So, just think about this for a moment, is your console/PC more superior than you, is it smarter, more self capable of thought, does it require you? Is it an overlord? Did it once enslave a colony in a remote galaxy for 10,000 years? Did it beat Superman in a game of poker despite Superman using his X-Ray vision?
Probably not. Does your chosen console/PC bully the others? Do they accept orders off of the lead system?

When I read these comments claiming something they have to be more superior over something else, I imagine some type of 80's Saturday cartoon villian expecting people to bow down before him next to his evil throne or a giant console/PC with a glowing ream of light in all its holyness frowning upon the others as they lay in chains begging not to be slain with lightning striking at the background. Whilst at the moment, these things just sit at my desk and occasionally play games, they are objects, not Gods. I may prefer some over the other, but neither are inferior or superior, I might find one better and in my personal opinion more suited for recognition of what they achieve as systems, but they don't overrule anyone or anything else.

Anyway, just start using the word 'better'. Because the word 'superior' is so damn debatable and so bloody annoying especially with systems which serve a similar purpose in the same era, just stop it.

- Comments (6)

Shnazzyone6126d ago

you are told to avoid absolutes. As well as using quantitative speech over qualitative. Superior indeed fails on both counts.

EDF 5 is upon us

Cajun Chicken

Superior

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