How to parse. ...

248

ADJE CTI VES.

[Par. 431, 432.

This has been shortened into
(2) " I have heard somethuing good."
43I The Superlative form of the Adjective is sometimes used as a Noun, e.g. -
(1) "He plunged into the thickest, hottest, of the
fray."
This is easily explained by the confusion (II.)
with such expressions as "the best (fish) of your
fish," " the finest (streets) of your streets." Here
the Noun can logically be supplied, and the construction (owing to its convenient brevity (I.) ) has
encroached, where, logically, it is unjustifiable.
A few Adjectives of French origin follow their Nouns, in
accordance with French usage, e.g. " heir apparenlt," " blood
royal," "prince regent." In poetry the transposition is
common, for emphasis. See Par. 515.
Possessive Adjective, &c.
432 Tlle following curious idiom requires explanation -
(1) " That ugly face of his quite frightened the
child."
The regular construction would have been " that
ugly face of him;" and, irn the same way, instead of
saying(2) " This news of John's is very strange."
(3) "A friend of mine is here,"