Diaphanous Dreams of You

The following is pinched (not plagiarized :P) from NSCC's The Loft:-

Grammar Handout

Order of Cumulative Adjectivess (*tsk tsk* in a language teaching site? :P)

Cumulative is the term used to describe a string of adjectives modifying (describing) the same noun. Convention has established a usual order for these modifiers. For example, we would not (or should not) say, "Winter woman's coats," or, "Warm women's winter coats," but rather, "Women's winter coats," or, "Women's warm winter coats." It's a matter of logic and the usual rule of English that words that belong together stand together.

The normal order for these modifiers is as follows:

Markers

Article: a, an, the

Possessive: my, John's, women's

Number: four, few, several

Evaluation (Writer's opinion)

Lovely, tasteful, depressing, cheerful

Physical Qualities

Size: giant, 10-foot, minuscule

Shape: pyramid, blob, tube

Condition: rusty, brittle, used

Age: Ancient, 6-year, new

Color: black, blue, ecru

Pattern, style, design: argyle, dotted, batik

Source

Nationality: American, Chinese, Greek

Location: southern, Vermont

Religion: Jewish, Muslim

Made of

Stone, glass, plastic, linen

Class/type (often a noun working as an adjective)

Coffee (table), ski (boots), pine (tree)

Noun

The object described: jacket, box, child, store

Here are some examples:

John's beautiful teenage daughters

Some large, round, gray stepping stones

A priceless, antique southern pine writing desk

A well-worn, black herringbone sport coat

While the examples above and below illustrate the generally accepted order, variations are possible.

But of course.

So.

A normally cheerful 28-year-old Chinese English teacher from Malaysia is counting the days anxiously until she kisses her delightfully cranky fat white longkang cat on the nose!