1103: All as a Submodifier and Intensifier Dec 16, 2017

While the word 'all' acts semantically to unify things (i.e. "*all* the parts of something), the use of the word extends to one as not only a submodifier with varied senses but also as an intensifier. One can say that someone is 'all wet' to mean that every part of someone is wet, but in other cases, such as 'all better', the meaning does not necessarily refer to the literal whole of someone, but contributes to a quality. In both cases, the word is a submodifier, but the literal sense was extended to a more abstract notion of a person in the latter example. Moreover, while 'every' refers to parts of something "all parts" "every part", it does not lend itself to modifying the way 'all' does, such that someone cannot be 'every better'. Furthermore, somewhat colloquially, 'all' can be used as an intensifier, such as in "you look stressed", to "you look all stressed".

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