We hear it almost every day. Out of nowhere, a new “Number-One Movie In America” TV commercial creeps up. Or we hear about the number-one soft drink, or the number-one comedy show. But what, exactly, does that mean? Are we to assume that it’s always based on some sort of analysis of poll results or number crunching?
From a purely grammatical standpoint, it doesn’t mean much at all. What if the movie that is being advertised as the number-one movie in America is actually given its label because it is the “number-one most boring” movie or the “number-one most hated”? Or, what if it was voted number-one based on a survey of ten people, who happen to be the team of creators? How are we to know? Maybe we have fallen victim to propaganda that is slyly created by the Hollywood movie tycoons and others. What is preventing me from saying that this web site is the “Number-one Blog Site in the World”? I would certainly like it to be. But my reasoning for this may not have anything to do with daily hit totals or gross income. My interpretation may be that it is the number-one blog site with a mascot called Mizzouse that was created by myself. Does that statement not hold true? Of course it does.
So, I’ll say it loud and I’ll say it proud:
Mizzouse.com is the NUMBER-ONE blog site in the world! Tell all your friends!
There. It has been said. Do you believe me?
I have been concerned with how often this phrase has been tossed around lately. The more it is said, the more skeptical I become about its use. Sure, if I heard a commercial that Pirates of the Caribbean or Harry Potter were the number-one movie, I would definitely believe it to be the highest grossing movie or the highest rated movie at the time. But movies such as Are We There Yet?, Lady and the Tramp 2, and Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea just don’t seem to be telling the truth (and these are just examples for the purpose of illustration). I know that this phrase is used correctly in many cases, as shown in Wikipedia’s “Box office number-one movies of 2006“, for example. But the term is so ambiguous that it provides little guarantee that it is ALWAYS used to portray the meaning that we most expect.
If there is corrupted usage occurring, no law suit could ever hold the user of such a phrase responsible for misleading an audience. Any claim could be easily countered by proving, in some way, how a movie or product is “number-one”. And that, it appears, is ridiculously easy!
Bottom line: we need these claims to be more specific! Phrases like “highest-grossing”, “highest-requested product based on user polls”, “highest-rated” (by critics), “highest-visited web site” all offer specific, relevant, and measurable meanings and must be used in order to counter my skepticism. Until then, I will never assume anything that is “number-one” to be of any great import.
Update: big news! I just found out that Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time is the #1 DVD in America. Hmph. (Come to think of it, Disney uses this tactic really often).
