Can it be blistering hot out, or does it have to be blisteringLY hot out?

[driphoney]

. . . and if it is technically 'blisteringly, where do you draw the line between what is grammatically correct and what sounds better? What do you do?

Here's my story sentence:
Leaning against her blistering hot car, she refused to crumple to the ground, refused to let him see her body give in to the wailing that was going on inside.

(And why don't I just listen to Dark and not let an editor make me doubt so much? )

 

[Darkniciad]

Blistering reads better. Dropping that LY on there just makes the word stumble, and takes the sentence with it, IMO

 

[lance gt]

In the context you show, blistering sounds right. IMHO

 

[bronzeage]

"hot enough to boil a monkey's bum" works just as well.

When you are coining words, go for the poetry of the image.

"Blisteringly" sounds too much like "hopefully", which is everyone's favorite nonsense adverb.

 

[driphoney]

Blistering reads better. Dropping that LY on there just makes the word stumble, and takes the sentence with it, IMO

That's my thinking. And I knew you would have commented earlier if you felt otherwise. Why do I doubt?

 

[driphoney]

In the context you show, blistering sounds right. IMHO

"hot enough to boil a monkey's bum" works just as well.

When you are coining words, go for the poetry of the image.

"Blisteringly" sounds too much like "hopefully", which is everyone's favorite nonsense adverb.

Thanks. And here's a for you too. You can never have too many 's. Unlike 'ly' words.

 

[Stella_Omega]

"Blistering" is a verb, actually. it means "forming blisters."

So the car is getting blisters. Which can happen with a cheap paint job.

But if the car is hot enough to produce blisters on her butt-- it's blisteringly hot. The "ly" ending turns the verb into a modifier of "hot."

"hopefully" is an adjective-- sometimes an adverb.

If you've been using Strunk &Write rules up to that point, it's going to give some of your readers a jolt when they see a colloqualism like 'blistering hot"

On the other hand, if you write 'the way you talk' all the time, leave it be!

 

[Darkniciad]

On the other hand, if you write 'the way you talk' all the time, leave it be!

I have the advantage of context from the rest of the story. It fits

 

[Stella_Omega]

Glad to hear it!

 

[jomar]

blistering...

Use the "ly" sparingly. I have written around the "ly" from time to time but find myself using it more lately.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Actually 'blistering' is an adjective. 'Blister' is a verb or a noun.

So 'blistering' is the correct form to use.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Whoah!

JBJ is right.

"Blistering" is an adjective, "blisteringly" is an adverb except that here you're using it to modify "hot" -- so hot it can raise blisters-- and that's why the 'ly' is bugging you so much.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you, STELLA.

 

[penandpaper]

Blistering sounds better. Use it.

 

[driphoney]

Glad we all got the grammar right! I had a real life recall/lesson yesterday. Hey, I readily admit I'm bad at grammar!

Here's another example:

The dark red motorcycle.
It's not:
The darkly red motorcycle.
We could also say:
The cherry red motorcycle.
And we know we would never say:
The cherrily red motorcycle.
Right?

I'll save my other I'm Ignorant questions. Spread them out over time so as not to overwhelm you, or shame me too badly all at once!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

'We" didnt do shit, I did.

Grammar is the least of your problems.

 

[driphoney]

Thank you for pointing that out. One thing 'we' can do and that is count on you to make us feel better.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you for pointing that out. One thing 'we' can do and that is count on you to make us feel better.

You shouldnt feel better till you have something to feel better about.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

With great trepidation can I modestly suggest that Dark, Stella and JBJ are right for wrong reasons.

Blistering, like 'hopeful', can be either an adjective or an adverb. The -ly forms exist as well as adverbs.

In your sentence, 'a blistering hot car', blistering is an adverbial modifier of the adjective 'hot', like extremely or terribly hot. Perhaps that is why you were drawn to 'blisteringly'. 'Blistering' is not acting as an adjective here.

Whichever form you prefer is grammatically correct.

eta: cherry red, dark red, sky blue are single compound adjectives not two adjectives. There are no adverbs or adjectives for cherry or sky.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

With great trepidation can I modestly suggest that Dark, Stella and JBJ are right for wrong reasons.

Blistering, like 'hopeful', can be either an adjective or an adverb. The -ly forms exist as well as adverbs.

In your sentence, 'a blistering hot car', blistering is an adverbial modifier of the adjective 'hot', like extremely or terribly hot. Perhaps that is why you were drawn to 'blisteringly'. 'Blistering' is not acting as an adjective here.

Whichever form you prefer is grammatically correct.

Wrong! She uses it as a gerund or a nominalization, we're not sure, cuz blister can be a noun or a verb. If she wrote 'red hot car' red is not an adverb nor is it a gerund or nominalization, its an adjective. Dipstick should hyphenate blistering-hot to end the confusion.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I beg to differ. A gerund or nominative word obviously can't act as a modifier. It has to be a subject, object or complement. Here, hot is being modified.

eta: red-hot is a single hyphenated adjective.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I beg to differ. A gerund or nominative word obviously can't act as a modifier. It has to be a subject, object or complement. Here, hot is being modified.

Duh, yeh, thats right! But it can if its hyphenated with hot. Hell! She could write ELFIN-STUPID and use it as an adjective.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Well, no. Blistering as adjective is a synonym for hot. I'll leave you to decide if the same applies to elfin-stupid!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

ELFIN youre a dolt. You and DIPSTICK need to get together and write DICK & JANE erotica.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

ELFIN youre a dolt. You and DIPSTICK need to get together and write DICK & JANE erotica.

Do I take that as an apology?

Accepted.

*strokes JBJ scrawny head*

Loves ya