The other day I read an article on MSNBC about Ted Kennedy passing away. In the article there is a quote by his son, Patrick, who apparently represents the state of Delaware in the House of Representatives. This is the quote taken from the article...
"He has authored more pieces of major legislation than any other United States senator," Patrick Kennedy said. "He is the penultimate senator. I don't need to exaggerate when I talk about my father. That's the amazing thing. He breaks all the records himself."
The penultimate senator? Really? He's the next from the last senator? Penultimate does not mean the pinnacle of ultimate!
Now I know that I'm not an English major and I speak Southern (97% Dixie was my score) instead of English, but the use of penultimate there just jumped out at me.
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