Hi everybody!
Can I use second-rating in the following context? I want to make sure there is no negative connotation.
Second-rating Arnold Classic competition won't see two most promising bodybuilding stars.
Thanks in advance
"Second-rating" doesn't make sense in English.
"The second-rate Arnold Classic competition won't see
the two most promising bodybuilding stars" is a possible sentence. This could mean that the Arnold Classic is inherently a "second-rate" competition, or that it is going to be "second-rate" the next time around because the two most promising bodybuilding stars won't be competing there. I don't think the first (that the Arnold Classic has always been a "second-rate" competition or is inherently one) is true, so you probably mean the second. Therefore, you might better say, "The Arnold Classic will be second-rate this year/the next time, because the two most promising bodybuilding stars will be absent."
"Second-rate" definitely has a negative connotation—anything that is "second-rate" is inferior to events or things of the same type that are "first-rate." If you don't want to suggest that the Arnold Classic will be an inferior event because of the absence of two promising stars, you need an different description entirely, and I'm not sure what it would be.
