The order of adjectives

There is a grammar rule of English that you’ve probably never heard of but use every day. It's the order in which adjectives have to be used and is summed up by Mark Forsyth in his book, The Elements of Eloquence. He uses this example:

”Lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife.”

Mess with that order in the slightest and you’ll sound like a lunatic. Adjectives in English have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun.

Here’s the full breakdown:
1. Opinion (lovely)
2. Size (little)
3. Age (old)
4. Shape (rectangular)
5. Colour (green)
6. Origin (French)
7. Material (silver)
8. Purpose (whittling)

Change that order and you'll sound weird i.e. whittling French green lovely rectangular silver old little knife. It’s a great example of how we all learn to speak correctly without ever knowing why.