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 Finding Superlatives
The idea for these questions began when I bought my latest set of forty brightly colored postage stamps — right before I learned that the cost of stamps is going up.
While I don't send as many letters as I used to use now that e-mail is so much a part of my life, I still enjoy giving and receiving beautiful and informative stamps. And when the stamps come in a set, I wish the recipient could see all of them because frequently the whole page looks so terrific as a group.
This is certainly true for the theme of the stamps that sparked my interest in these questions for the Q-and-A Club. The set is called "Wonders of America: Land of Superlatives." The back of the stamp sheet says: "The United States is a land of superlatives, rich in natural and man-made wonders. Forty of the most remarkable places, structures, plants, and animals in America appear on this stamp pane." Here are the categories:
Deepest Lake |
Longest Cave |
Fastest Bird |
Longest Covered Bridge |
Fastest Land Animal |
Longest Hiking Trail |
Highest Sea Cliffs |
Longest Mountain Chain |
Hottest Spot |
Longest Reef |
Largest Canyon |
Longest River System |
Largest Cliff Dwelling |
Longest Span |
Largest Delta |
Loudest Animal |
Largest Desert |
Most Active Volcano |
Largest Estuary |
Rainiest Spot |
Largest Flower |
Oldest Trees |
Largest Freshwater Fish |
Oldest Mountains |
Largest Frog |
Tallest Cactus |
Largest Glacier |
Tallest Dam |
Largest Land Mammal |
Tallest Dunes |
Largest Lake |
Tallest Geyser |
Largest Natural Bridge |
Tallest Man-made Monument |
Largest Plant |
Tallest Trees |
Largest Reptile |
Tallest Waterfall |
Largest Rodent |
Windiest Place |
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Almost everyone is interested in knowing superlatives for a multitude of places, things, and people. We want to know what is considered the longest, tallest, shortest, fattest, thinnest, deepest, widest, oldest, smartest, darkest, brightest, quickest, heaviest, and lightest, as well as an almost any other adjective you can think of. We eagerly devour lists of the "most" famous or talented movie stars, authors, athletes, or any other group of people in whom we're interested.
I don't claim the questions below are the "most" interesting you could ask on the topic of superlatives. I leave that to your discretion. I merely offer these to encourage you to be curious about some of the many things, places and people in this wide world, and to see what adjectives you could apply to groups of them.
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 How many in the list above can I identify correctly? [After you've done the best you can, you can go to the page of answers to see how well you did. You could go there without first trying, but that would defeat the purpose of stimulating your thinking.]
If I were to include the whole world, rather than just the United States, what do I think would be the correct answers for the list above?
If I don't live in the United States, what would my answers be for my own country?
If I were to create a list of many more categories of places and things, as well as people, what would be on my list?
What adjectives would determine the "best" of such places, things, and people?
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