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© Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...
So begins the U. S. Constitution, with one of the most famous grammatical "errors" in history. We are often told that "perfect" is an absolute. There is "perfect" and there is "not perfect"; there is no "more perfect". Correct, we are told, is "nearly perfect" and "more nearly perfect". Well, times have changed. "More perfect" is now correct, with good reason.
First of all, this debate had little to do with grammar, and more to do with semantics or philosophy. Similar is "correct". Something can be technically correct. But there are sometimes degrees of correctness, among the correct. Some things are more correct.
Second, "perfect" as an absolute was almost automatically misused. Nothing is perfect, as the cliche states, except in mathematics. And so, "perfect crime", "perfect man", "perfect woman", etc. is always a blatant exaggeration. Of course, exaggeration is not a grammatical error. But using "perfect" for things that are less than perfect, opens the door for "more perfect" and even "most perfect".