- I am broke
In slang it means to be without money, but how would I say (facetiously) that my economic situation is worse today?
a. I am broker today
b. I am more broke today
Solution b) sounds less ambiguous to my ears because in a) broker means someone who buys and sells goods or assets for others. And it also sounds like (to me) someone who is now more broken in spirit than before. Yet, grammatically speaking, broker should be correct:
broke –> broker –> the brokest
broke
ADJECTIVE
informal
predicative Having completely run out of money.
English Oxford Dictionaries
Question
What is the comparative form of “be broke” in colloquial speech?
Is it “broker” or “more broke”?
This question is inspired by a quote from the novel Educated by Tara Westover, which was posted on ELL as
What's the meaning of “be broker than the Ten Commandments”?
Best Answer
Both comparative forms are in use. It seems that more broke is the older usage, but more extensive research--which I can't do at the moment--would need to confirm this (not that the answer depends on which usage is older).
The sentence
could theoretically mean I'm the one who is the broker today, with broker meaning the one "who buys and sells goods or assets for others" (ODO). For the lack of an article before the count noun, see Omission of “the” in “elected him president” and “made captain”.
But the meaning or intended meaning of statements are usually flushed out in context. And Google Books offers plenty of examples of broker as the comparative for broke, including:
(Here's what you do, 2009)
(The death of cool: From Teenage Rebellion to the Hangover of Adulthood, 2013)
(Lads - the seventies, 2013)
(Queer and loathing on the yellow brick road, 2012)
(Woman chased by crows: an Orwell Brennan mystery, 2012)
(Sweethearts: How the Mafia, Jewish developers, and Italian workers..., 2014)
On the other hand, there are comparatives with more broke. So, in the end, I guess you can pick your poison:
(The money book for the young, fabulous & broke, 2005)
(Peeling apart, 2006)
(Confessions of a (struggling) actress, 2012)
So, it seems there is use of both forms. Is one "more right" or "righter" than the other? Only a prescriptive grammarian would insist on that.
I can't include exhaustive research at the moment, but it seems that more broke is the older usage. For example:
(Collier's magazine, 1950).
If someone insists that English was spoken better 70 years ago, then they might produce this, and a handful of other search returns, for evidence.