In hearing the Network Neutrality debate, does it strike you as odd when you hear the term ‘best efforts’? Most classes of Internet service are billed as being best efforts; however, if you want guaranteed delivery of your packets, you have to pay more. Why should you have to pay for something which is better than the best?! I know what it means colloquially, but this drives me crazy. Wiktonary defines effort as: noun, 1. The amount of work involved in performing an activity; exertion. 2. An endeavour. Since best is a superlative, you cannot have really something which is better than your best exertion. Can you? Well Okay, what about endeavor? Endeavor: noun, 1. A sincere attempt. A determined or assiduous effort towards a specific goal. Ah yes, always be sincere whether you mean it or not. If your best attempt doesn’t guarantee service what would more could you do?
Insight: Isn’t false advertising, if not a grammatical impossibility, to label a lower class as being “best”?