Nada writes: “My favourite sports are swimming and diving.”

Yes, of course that’s absolutely correct and totally natural. People might even emphasize one of them by saying “but diving is my most favorite.” What one might object to would be saying something like “swimming is one of my most favorite sports.” Again, it’s not a question of grammar, but it’s poor style, since “most” serves to emphasize something that doesn’t really need emphasizing, and “one of…” actually contradicts that emphasis.

Actually, most so-called “grammar” discussions among English speakers are not about grammar at all, but merely style (not to mention spelling and pronunciation).

I don't respect these sorts of rules very often. I treat my language like a paint set, and if I want to mix up colours that shouldn't be mixed (according to the rules) then so be it. Language is simply an instrument for expressing an idea or emotion. Sometime, by breaking the rules, we can more clearly define our thinking. What did Obama mean when he delivered his "More Perfect Union" speech? Was he nodding towards the idea of exceptionalism buried deep in the heart of white Americans whilst acknowledging the feelings of delayed justice towards black Americans? Yes, and how did he do it? By breaking a rule that was already broken in the preamble of their constitution.

Similarly with "most favourite". This phrase is meant to tap "THE favourite" on the shoulder and say "hey, don't be too proud of yourself because there are other candidates for the title". The word favourite defines things in a strict order with that one thing at the very top, but this sort of structure is too rigid for human emotions and tastes in so many cases. We're not Vulcan logic machines. Saying "most favourite" sounds a little childish but so be it. It acknowledges my right to hold many things up for examination in a superlative light.

And "deader" is just funny, so we can't get rid of that one. Two raccoons died the other day. One was shot by a farmer and the other got squished flat by a semi. So he's the deader of the two. He's deader than a door nail. Amiright?!

Are the rules of grammar important? Yes. That's how we can begin to have fun by breaking them.

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes." ~ Walt Whitman

Favorite already means "the most liked" so, it sounds strange to me to hear "the most favorite". You could say that you have many favorites but December is your (absolute) favorite month.

I think it's fine. You certainly can have more than one "favorite." You can say "I like all of Nevil Shute's novels, but <em>The Trustee from the Toolroom,</em> <em>A Town like Alice,</em> and <em>No Highway</em> are my favorites." So how can you express the notion of which of those "favorites" you like best? You certainly can't say "favoritest!"

Now I'm going to search for examples.

"often after having invented one of the most ingenious and natural theories imaginable, she will have the

perverseness to act directly in the teeth of [a philosopher's] system, and flatly contradict his most favorite positions."--Washington Irving

"During the attempt we shall become unintelligible to one another, and science will be really retarded by efforts to advance it made by its most favorite sons."--a letter by Thomas Jefferson

"Hum's most favourite perch was the back of the great rocking-chair, ..."--Harriet Beecher Stowe

"He talked of Isaac Walton's <em>Lives</em>, which was one of his most favourite books."--Boswell's life of Johnson.

"She was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract, by her conduct, her most favourite maxims."--Jane Austen, <em>Sense and Sensibility</em>

<em>"</em>One of his most favourite topics, on which he is rich indeed, and in descanting on which his spleen serves him for a Muse, is the disproportionate match between Desdemona and the Moor."--William Hazlitt

Oooh... and a sonnet by William Wordsworth:

<em>Say, what is Honour?—'Tis the finest sense....</em>

<em>Endangered States may yield to terms unjust,</em>

<em>Stoop their proud heads;—but not unto the dust,—</em>

<em>A Foe's most favourite purpose to fulfil!</em>

<em>Happy occasions oft by self-mistrust</em>

<em>Are forfeited; but infamy doth kill.</em>

If you say "most favourite" I think you're in pretty good company--on both sides of the Atlantic, with or without a <em>u.</em>

I was hoping to find the answer to my question in a dictionary or a Usage Note, but no such luck.

What I did find were several definitions of the word favourite, but no usage notes.

Normally, when an adjective is listed in a dictionary the 3 forms of the adjective will be written, e.g., big, bigger, biggest.

However, none of the dictionaries showed comparative or superlative forms of the word favourite, which makes me believe that the word is an absolute adjective.

Still, as Phil pointed out, we do use the term "least favourite" which makes one believe that the word may be modifiable or qualifiable.

Here are a few of the definitions that I found (all of which seem to indicate that the word is an absolute adjective):

Oxford: Preferred before all others of the same kind.

Cambridge: best liked or most enjoyed (does include "least favourite")

Collins: Your favourite thing or person of a particular type is the one you like most.

MOST FAVOURITE USAGE NOTE

Most dictionaries say that the word simply means something that is regarded with special favor or liking and that seems to allow for qualification, and we do often say something like "Sushi is my least favorite food."

I would say that "My most favorite food is sushi" is OK, but we're better off without the "most."

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So, can we have favourites that are more or less favourite than other favourites?

And if we can have degrees of favourites, can we have favourites that are qualified as more and most favourite?

And if we can have degrees of favourites, then can we say "one of my most favourite (whatever)"?

WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING IN CIRCLES... LOL