Talk:tired

Graded forms

Here are some relevant citations to support the inflectional grading of the adjective tired.

1. 1991 FIC Mov:LastBoyScout bottle of Seagrams V.O. RADIO on, playing tinny JAZZ music. # Picture the tiredest, meanest, grouchiest son of a bitch self-hating loser you can. Now give
2. 1992 MAG Newsweek a loon. " All Lincoln himself ever allowed was that " I am the tiredest man on earth. " # It is this Lincoln-the flawed yet recognizable human being
3. 1999 FIC MassachRev the night. Not so much because of the dark, but because she is tiredest. Cart-worn, her muscles tailing off puny and yarned, and what is Lil
4. 1999 FIC BkGen:MotherPearl I'd sure say he was tired. Just Plain Grace think you probably the tiredest man alive right now, and then she reached over and patted Joleb's leg
5. 2001 NEWS AssocPress massage oil, lingerie, disguises and a range of gadgets to titillate even the tiredest of sex lives. Whatever your fancy, you'll find it at Sao Paulo
6. 2004 FIC BkGen:The wishbones they kept the momentum for ten more tunes, finding something real in even the tiredest old standards. When they had run the gamut of their repertoire, from disco

--Brett 20:06, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

I was unable to find any respected source that said they were legitimate words. The only dictionary that had "tireder" as a word was Urban Dictionary (hardly the quality we're striving for). And even they said it's slang, not the actual comparative form of tired. I could almost accept "tiredest" as a very non-standard form based on your references. But I remain wholly unconvinced regarding "tireder". · Tygrrr... 21:02, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

1. S_tutorial for instance that I'm changing because I'm er getting older, I'm getting tireder erm all sorts of things can be said about me. Erm, but they
2. W_fict_prose will be tired out with all the excitement." "You'll be a lot tireder , I surmise," said John with a smile. He pushed back his
3. W_fict_prose the central pole. I was whirling it round and round --; I was getting tireder and tireder and wondering how long I could go on … I was the engine
4. W_news_script and that's what makes reviving them so difficult. Male speaker I'm even tireder than them. You've got to keep them going. You have to drive

And the OED cites: 1852 MRS. CARLYLE Lett. (1883) II. 196, I am very tired; and the tireder I am, the less I sleep.--Brett 01:09, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

If you really think it's best to keep it, I would suggest a compromise of saying that they are non-standard comparative and superlative forms of tired. · Tygrrr... 02:07, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

There are some words for which graded and "... more/most" forms are both valid, and I think this may be one of those words. Graded forms are more typical of small words. I've not looked in a dictionary, but tired and tiredest are the forms I'm familiar with. If the graded forms are not found or not as standard or formal, these inflection could listed as "(informal)." --Jared 14:54, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

But listing them as informal when they might not be might not be the best solution that we could do. Tired and tiredest are the two that I am most familiar with as well. I would suggest we keep tiredest, as I am almost positive that that is a word, however, I am not so sure about tireder....Razorflame 15:02, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Then I say we use them both, since they are common words in typical English. --Jared 13:14, 28 February 2009 (UTC)