Someone said to me recently that tough times are getting tougher. I pondered. Do they get tougher or become tougher? And just how is it to be measured?

It is a sliding scale, this matter of toughness. For some it is as tough as it can become (or get) and that makes it the toughest. Certainly toughest is tougher than tough but the sliding scale depends upon the individual's ability to handle tough, not tougher or toughest. Certainly no one who handles tough badly can handle tougher, making tougher toughest, in that case. And if a person is handling times being tougher, then that person may have been handling tough well.

But can it become (get) the toughest for those who are handling tough and tougher? Tougest is tougher than tough, right? So where does the misery end? Is lard the answer to what will make us happy during tough times?