ENGLISCH/898: Questions to Mrs Gobbledygook (185) royal comparison (SB)

QUESTIONS   TO   MRS   GOBBLEDYGOOK

185 Royal comparison

Dear Mrs Gobbledygook

... watching an English program on TV I came upon two
expressions, which make no sense to me. Now, maybe you
can explain me, which sentence is correct?

"More royalist than the king"
or
"More loyalist than the king"?

Yours,

S. Olafson (Sweden)

*

Dear Mr O

To be true, both sentences make sense, although the
meaning are slightly different. The word "royalist" is
connected with the word "royal", which derives from the
french word "roi" meaning "king". A royalist is a
person who supports the king's or the queen's side in a
dispute.

On the other hand a "loyalist" is someone who supports
the existing form of government or the existing leader
which can of course be the king or the queen. Loyalist
and royalist can be the same, in a monarchy for
example.

But, to return to the sentence:

"More royalist than the king"

Its literal sense that would refer to a supporter who
is more enthusiastic than the leader who he supports
himself.

That reminds me of a similar expression:

"More catholic than the pope"

Both are expressions that can be used metaphorically to refer to people who take their enthusiasm or their beliefs extremely seriously. But not wanting to be more talkative than a lecturer, I leave you with these examples.

Yours

Miranda Gobbledygook

24 December 2010