[spraak]

> "The whole thing is a mess - a terrible example of junk science hitting the internet in free-fall," wrote Dr David Stuart

Wouldn't it actually be an excellent example of 'junk science hitting the internet in free-fall' ?

[ludamad]

An example can be 'terrible' in many ways

[saalweachter]

Perhaps the archaic definition, "causing terror"? Does the idea that random bunk can consume both scientific resources and digital ink terrify you?

[themartorana]

"I'm in terrible pain."

[cyphar]

"This is an excellent example of excruciating pain". The "terrible" in "terrible example of X" means that it's a bad example of X, not that it's a good example of how X is bad.

[Dylan16807]

When we're talking about something a person did (promoting junk science, in this case), it's easy to use the meaning of setting a bad example. It's usually clear from context whether the example is 'terrible to follow' or 'terrible at explicating'.

You might prefer a nonambiguous wording, but the current wording is valid, and not a grammatical error.

For the pain example, think of "a terrible example of how to excruciatingly injure yourself" as a phrase that's easier to use in either context.

[spraak]

Thanks for explaining. I hadn't meant to point it out in a sense of grammatical correctness but it makes sense that way.